Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

In Need of a Little Comfort	By : Monddame Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 45107 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchinse; I never have and I never will. Furthermore, I am not making any money whatsoever from this submission...even though it would be nice...but that's illegal...but still...

Chapter List
- 1-In Need of a Little Comfort
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 10
- 11
- 12
Sigh. Two weeks again. But I�ve got the next chapter nearly half finished already so it should be here sooner. I guess it depends how much time I spend hiding in my room to avoid relatives over Thanksgiving! Also, I�m working on a one-shot that I might post later today or in a day or two. Cheers mates!

*

All he could think was �Sweet, mother fucking, Merlin almighty, Holy Hecate, son of a sphinx, mother of mercy, everlasting flames from the fires of hell!� After his brain ran through a number more silly obscenities it stalled and all he could do was stare at her. What in the name of everything good and saintly had he ever done in his miserable, wicked life to deserve the sight of the goddess standing before him? Draco certainly couldn�t think of a single thing he�d ever done to make him worthy of such magnificence.

And she was a goddess. His lips quirked upward when he realized who she was. Yes, she certainly was a clever little thing, wasn�t she? Even if she couldn�t figure out what he was dressed as. Though, he found her attempts to hide her confusion simply adorable.

She was so incredibly radiant and he was so fucking hard, he thought he might burst if he didn�t have her right then. Of course, she had to be all about duty at the moment. He could have seduced her into compliance, made her forget all about that stupid dance, he knew he could. But, he also knew that being on time and fulfilling her responsibilities were important tasks to her, and he wouldn�t get in her way of those things for the world. She would cease to be the Hermione he l-�.held dear without her integrity and sense of equity. So, with a sigh, and a nifty little disguising spell he knew to obscure his raging erection, he followed her out of their common room.

As they walked down their corridor, his thoughts turned to their destination and all the other people that would be there, too. All the boys that would be there. All those fucking adolescent boys who would be seeing Hermione in all her heart stopping glory and didn�t know that she was his girl. Oh, no. That would never do.

So he reached for her hand, realizing as he wrapped his fingers around her soft skin, that even though they�d fucked on numerous occasions, he�d never engaged in such an intimate gesture with her outside their own rooms. Honestly�it felt fucking fantastic. Especially when she threaded her little fingers through his giving her silent approval of being �seen� together.

His absolute euphoria, already being buffeted by the waves of his own anxiety � of course he was nervous, but getting worked up would only make her more anxious � dimmed considerably when she began to hyperventilate outside the Great Hall. He understood; he really did. She had more to risk, reputation-wise than he did, especially since he no longer cared to keep up appearances. But it still hurt, that going public was sending her into apoplexy.

Or at least he thought that�s what was happening. Being called a stupid git was not something that generally brought a smile to his face, but he had never been so pleased to be wrong in his life. She wasn�t worried about being seen with him. She was just worried about him. He pushed his own anxiety about the whole �evil Dark Lord� thing to the back of his mind. Worrying wouldn�t do him any good, and honestly, it wouldn�t keep him from doing this anyway, so what was the point? Instead he reveled in having someone else, besides his overprotective mother, care about his welfare. It was a nice feeling.

The Great Hall was abuzz with whispering and shocked stares as the Head students entered holding hands. Draco smirked at the crowd in general, exceedingly pleased with himself for finally snagging the little firebrand at his side, inwardly laughing at all the surprised and jealous looks he was receiving. Stupid wankers, should have hopped on the hippogriff when they had the chance. Not that he would personally ever risk hopping on hippogriff; his overactive brain wondered at the etymology of phrases like that.

And then he felt her stiffen at his side. Looking down at her, he followed her gaze in time to see her �friends� huff angrily and turn away from her. His blood boiled as he felt the waves of sorrow washing off his beautiful companion, her posture slumping in her upset.

�Gits.�

Determined that she have a good time, Draco led Hermione to the dance floor and proceeded to ply her with his attention, hoping that if he kept her laughing long enough, she�d forget about the stupid bastards who were supposed to be her friends. It wasn�t too hard, as engaging as his partner was, to keep up his witty banter and revel in holding her body close to his. When she called for a break, he didn�t even give her a chance to think about searching for her loser friends, heading off to the table where he saw Theo and Blaise lounging. He figured if they were there together publicly, they might as well go all the way and introduce her to his friends as well. Not that Blaise and Theo didn�t already know�but she didn�t know that.

Unfortunately Millie was there too, and Draco wasn�t sure how she was going to respond to Hermione�s presence, knowing how close Millie was with Pansy. So he addressed himself to her, subtly asking about her loyalties to the black-haired banshee. Her response was welcome, if not altogether unsurprising. Slytherins tended to be self-first type of people. But that didn�t mean she was going to greet Hermione with open arms either. He wasn�t too fussed about it; he wasn�t that great of friends with Millie anyway.

Draco was surprised, however, at how easily Hermione took to Theo and subsequently to Blaise as well. It pleased him to no end that she could willingly accept them without judgment about what house they were in. It made him proud, too, that his girl was so open and tolerant; a far cry from the snobby Pureblood girls he was used to. At some point, she and Daphne began whispering and he felt her tense again for a moment, but when he looked at her from the corner of his eye, she was relaxing and smiling with Daphne, which made his heart do flips.

He felt so happy in that moment, sparring verbally with his best mates, his girlfriend already a welcome addition to their circle. He thought he could easily weep for joy; he was so unused to feeling so at peace, like he had everything he needed. When Blaise asked her to dance, and she looked to him for his reaction there was no guile, no calculation on her face, and his heart swelled even more. It felt so wonderful to have someone care about his feelings like that. He couldn�t help but smile at her in return.

Regrettably, a side effect of giving Hermione the green light to dance with Blaise was being cornered by Pansy almost immediately afterward. He cringed when she practically dragged him onto the dance floor, trying to press herself against him. He was torn between getting the fuck away from her as fast as his long, muscular legs could carry him and avoiding a scene by just dancing with her, vowing to himself to keep Hermione at his side for the rest of this wretched dance to keep from being accosted again by Pansy or any of the other brainless chits eying him from the edge of the dance floor.

And then the words started pouring out of her mouth like there was no end. She kept babbling on and on about proper decorum and the standards of etiquette for handling disagreements between spouses in Pureblood marriages and that even though they weren�t married yet, he needed to be careful how he acted in public so as not to ruin their reputation before they even got started. He was stunned. Fucking stunned. Surely, surely not even Pansy Parkinson was this dense? He�d told her off, in no uncertain terms, and she was lecturing him on maintaining a public face. She was lecturing him? He, Draco Malfoy, who had been getting these sorts of lessons from his bloody father since he had been old enough to talk? He was beyond pissed. Who the fuck did this bint think she was? He was just about to open his mouth to remind her of her place � apparently he�d have to be even more forceful this time � when she suddenly stopped talking and stepped back away from him.

�I�m sorry, Draco. It doesn�t matter how much you apologize to me; I will never get back together with you. I�m here with Ron, and he�s a much better lover than you!� Her voice carried loudly and confidently across the crowd, even though he could see the fear and apprehension swirling thickly in her eyes.

He opened his mouth, this time to eviscerate her. He could not BELIEVE she had just compared him to Weasley in any capacity, let alone claiming he was a better lover. She probably hadn�t even slept with the ginger pauper; she had claimed to hate him as much as he did. Just as the words reached the back of his throat, the most wonderful thing in world happened. Hermione stalked to his side, throwing her around him, squeezing a bit painfully as she took on the tiny Slytherin herself.

�Please refrain from accosting my boyfriend on the dance floor and shouting your inane delusions for everyone to hear, Parkinson.�

He couldn�t help the smile of triumph that bloomed across his face. This was the best day of his whole life! Not only had she come to his defense, she�d touched him and called him her boyfriend in front of everyone! There was no denying it now. He felt a twinge of�something when Pansy�s eyes welled with tears and she ran from the Hall as if she were on fire. Spending time with Hermione was obviously rubbing off on him; but he forced himself not to care. The little chit had brought it on herself in so many ways.

Instead he turned to his girlfriend, oh he loved that, and pulled her into his arms, brushing his lips against her ear as he whispered to her.

�I l-�I can�t believe you just did that. You�re my hero.�

She smirked at him, her brown eyes still hot with her ire and he prayed the little obscuring charm on his groin would hold as he felt himself get impossibly hard once more.

�My pleasure.� The smirk slid off her face and he nearly groaned out loud at the beautiful, vengeful expression on her face. �Don�t you ever let her touch you again, Draco Malfoy. Got it?�

�Have no fear, my little goddess, I have as much desire to be touched by Parkinson as I do to become a meal for a Blast-Ended Skrewt.�

Willfully ignoring the gasps and continued whispering around them, he bent down and captured her lips in a searing kiss that had her knees going weak as she leaned into him, trying to get as much contact with his body as she could. Oh yes, they were definitely out in the open now.

As much as the shocked whispers and blatant staring amused him, the rest of the world seemed to drift far away as he held his delightful temptress close to his body, breathing in her scent. He was totally fucking up his carefully crafted reputation as a cold, scary bastard but he couldn�t find the will to care as he rested his cheek against hers, a big stupid grin on his face.

He noticed her hands trembling as she ran them up and down his neck, pressing her face against his shoulder. Pulling back to look at her, he was startled by the presence of tears in her eyes.

�What�s the matter, kitten?�

�I still don�t understand why you want me when you could have a hundred other prettier girls with just a word.� Her voice was shaky and she had trouble looking him in the eye as she spoke. He cursed the very breath in Pansy�s lungs for bringing out Hermione�s insecurities.

�Because I don�t want a hundred other girls; I don�t want one other girl. You�re the only girl for me. You�re the one I�� love.

It was true. Even if he didn�t fully understand what that meant, or how to go about being in love with someone, Draco knew that he would do anything for her, anything to be with her. He could feel it in his chest when he looked at her. It was a cold weight in his gut when he thought about having to be without her. It was a dizziness in his head when he thought about the soft light in her eyes when he made love to her. And it was a painful tightening in his throat as he witnessed her doubt about how much he needed her.

�Don�t you think I feel the same way about you, Hermione?� Her sparkling amber eyes met his with a look of confusion. �Why would you want a spoiled, vicious, right nasty bastard like me when any of scores of decent, worthier wizards of integrity would fall over themselves just to carry your books around if you�d let them? Why are you with me when you deserve someone so much better?�

Damn it! Being in love apparently made you all sappy and overly emotional. Draco struggled a bit to keep the moisture growing in his eyes from sliding down his cheeks as he felt the truth in his words cut him to his very soul. Why was she with him? He wasn�t humble about his attributes by any stretch of the imagination. But his name and looks meant nothing to Hermione, and neither did his wealth. What was it that she saw in him?

Smiling gently at him, further breaking his heart, she cupped his face in her hands, nuzzling his nose with hers.

�You silly boy. I�m with you because you�re the most intelligent, sweet, devastatingly sexy wizard that I know and I can�t help but want to be near you all the time. I�m addicted to the way you make me feel, the way you look at me, the way I can be completely myself around you.� Pulling back and wrapping her arms about his shoulders, she leveled the most deliciously gleeful and mischievous smirk at him that he couldn�t control the answering upward curve of his own lips. �And if you think I deserve the best, then I certainly deserve you. After all, haven�t you always told me all these years that Malfoys are the best?�

�I am not sweet.� He smirked right back at her as she rolled her eyes.

�Is that all you got out of that?�

�No.� He spun her around, dipping her low and pressing a quick kiss to her lips. �You think I�m sexy.�

He laughed as she pretended to be offended that was all he absorbed of her little declaration. They both knew it wasn�t. This had to be the best night of his entire life. He sighed in contentment as they slowly revolved on the dance floor, any further attempt at really dancing disregarded. He wanted this moment to last forever. Well�

�Haven�t we stayed long enough yet, kitten? You must agree I�ve been very good. I didn�t even hex Parkinson, though she clearly deserved it.� She laughed, a bright melodious sound that made him giddy and put that big, stupid grin back on his face.

�How about some punch and then a dance or two more before we say our farewells, hmm? And then I�ll put myself completely at your dubious mercy.�

She swooned theatrically, leaning back and letting her arms fall open heavily, exposing her throat to him like a vampire�s willing victim. Deciding to take her posturing at face value, he dove into her neck, nipping lightly at her pulse point as she squealed and giggled, trying to get away.

�Alright, one glass of punch and one dance and then we�re leaving.�

She shook her head at him in amusement, smiling broadly as he grasped her hand and pulled her swiftly toward the refreshment table. Letting her go to locate two clean glasses and ladle out some of the lurid violet concoction into each, he turned back after a moment to find her gone. He looked around, surprised and slightly agitated that she had disappeared so quickly. When he spotted her his heart dropped into his stomach. She was a dozen or so paces away, her back to him, but he could still see the tension in her shoulders as she spoke to a very displeased Harry Potter. He set down the glasses and headed toward them when the jet-haired boy�s eyes glanced over her shoulder and locked on his, intense anger and hatred swirling in their emerald depths. As he got closer he could just make out the sound of her voice over the loud music, catching just her last few words before she sprinted off through the crowd toward the large open doors leading out of the Grand Hall.

��that I mean so little to you that you won�t even try.�

He watched her caramel curls falling out of their pins and flying behind her as she sped away, his anger mounting as he turned back to the officious bastard who was responsible for breaking the heart of the most caring, selfless person Draco had ever known.

�Just what the FUCK is wrong with you, Potter?! I thought you were supposed to be her friend? What? She does one little thing you don�t like and suddenly the last seven years don�t mean thestral dung to you? Aren�t you bleeding-heart Gryffindors supposed to be all about loyalty and all that rot? She�s practically killing herself because you don�t want to be her friend anymore, you fucking twit.� He was seriously considering breaking his promise to Hermione not to hex the bloody arse and his hands were shaking with the effort of not pulling out his wand.

�I never said I didn�t want to be her friend, you prick! Hermione is like my sister and I�d never give her up for something as stupid as messing around with you, poncy git! I should kill you right here just for touching her, you fucking Death Eater SCUM!�

No doubt the shorter boy would have launched himself at the blond if it hadn�t been for the redhead, for Ginny stepping in front of him and forcibly pushing him back a step. Clutching his face in her hands she forced him to look at her as she murmured to him, his eyes slowly losing that crazed glint that had stolen into them like wildfire. Glancing over her shoulder at him, her blue eyes caught his grey ones and she nodded toward the doors before turning back to her boyfriend and pulling him away.

Ignoring the crowd that had gathered to witness the altercation � no doubt hoping it would come to blows or hexes, the vultures � Draco hurried out of the Great Hall in pursuit of his distraught girlfriend. He was lost in his thoughts, his feet guiding him back to their rooms, and any thought that she might have escaped elsewhere pushed to the back of his mind. He was more focused on his little shouting match with Potter than the fact the she might have gone to a place of safety like the library for solitude.

First, his mind replayed the look on the Gryffindor�s face as he yelled at him. Draco had only seen that look on one other person before. Not even Hermione�s formidable fury or his father�s cruel wrath compared to that powerful look of rage from Potter; a look that promised pain and retribution beyond imagining. A threat to a loved one provoked it from the Boy-Who-Lived; any number of things � failure, betrayal, that very boy � generated such an expression from the Dark Lord. And it shook Draco to his core to see and feel such power radiating from his schoolboy rival. It shifted his perspective of the side of the Light and their chances radically.

His second train of thought was no less of a paradigm shift. Potter had called him a Death Eater. Intellectually, he knew that�s what he was, that the label applied to him because of the ugly black mark on his left forearm. But deeper in his psyche, emotionally perhaps, it shocked him to have it yelled in his face like that. It was like being called a cheater after borrowing a friend�s homework to copy answers. Sure, it was true, but it didn�t really sink in until someone else said it, accused you. Suddenly, Hermione�s fears for him, about him, sunk in too. They might be able to ignore it now, but when school ended, or earlier if the Dark Lord had anything to say about it, they wouldn�t be able to. They were on the opposite sides of a war! Opposite sides�

He was ejected, headlong from his thoughts and his regular pace turned into a flat out sprint as he ran for their common room. He had to hold her, he had to touch her, he had to breath in that scent that was uniquely hers before he fell completely and utterly apart.

*

All she wanted to do was get far, far away from the Great Hall and disappear under the coverlet on her bed in the dungeons. She was barely keeping the tears at bay, only years of practice at suppressing her emotions supporting her now. She was just reaching the top of the stairs when his voice rang out across the entryway.

�What in Merlin�s mighty name was that all about?!� She didn�t want to turn around, she didn�t want to look at his face, didn�t want to see his expression, but he gave her no choice when he stalked up behind her and turned her to face him, gripping her upper arms tightly. �All this time? It was all a ploy? A scheme to get back at Malfoy? You�you�you USED me!�

His features were pinched, his brilliant blue eyes dulled with pain, a wash of anger and hurt in them that filled her chest with a sharp reverberating pang that she didn�t recognize. He dropped his hands and stepped back away from her, the hurt slowly overtaking his anger, his hands shaking as they hung fisted against his legs.

�Ron, I-�

�No, I don�t want to hear it. I-� He shook his head, turning on his heel and stormed away. For a long breath she was frozen there, unable to follow even as desperately as she wanted to as big, fat tear drops rolled down her face.

�RON!� She didn�t even recognize it as her own voice as the shrill scream ripped from her throat, but whether he heard her or not, he didn�t stop, didn�t turn. He just kept trudging up the stairs toward his own common room. She began trembling as she sank down to her knees, her voice now no more than a whisper. �Ron, please��

She practically fainted from lack of oxygen she was crying so hard by the time she made it down the stairs and through the common room to her bedroom. And it was probably a good thing she had cried so hard leaving her so exhausted, because she was so utterly miserable, so filled with self-loathing that she might have done irreparable damage to herself had she had the energy to do more than fall onto her bed and curl up into a little ball.

*

A/N:Wow, you lot are so very lovely! We�ve reached over 20,000 hits and 150 reviews for this little fic-ky of mine and I am still surprised at all the wonderful compliments you�ve given me. I love writing for myself, but having an appreciative audience just makes the entire endeavor so much more satisfying! Love love loves to you all! (And I decided this time to write back to all of you to express it personally!)

kazfeist: Thank you so much for your continued reviews. You often give me such interesting things to think about and so appreciate it!

angeles: Your continued encouragement is so welcome! Thanks for your consistent reviewing, I really appreciate it!

misskitty1990: Thank you! Hope you like this chapter as well!

Hermione_Malfoy: I�m glad you liked my costume ideas for H and D. I�m not sure I executed the reasoning behind Hermione�s as well as I would have liked, but the idea of the �Virgin Princess� going as the �Virgin Goddess� when she was no longer a virgin just popped into my head and made me laugh. Oh irony�

Anon: Ew�working until 3am is definitely a viable excuse for not reviewing. That�s wretched. I once had I job where I had to start at 3am. Horrid. Thanks for your kind words, and I hope you get less busy soon (even if it is probably unlikely)!

Dreamweaver: I�m a big fan of Artemis too! I�m glad you liked how I portrayed Millie. I don�t like the fact that she�s either supposed to be ugly and mean or just another Pansy lackey in most fics. If she comes in again at some point I�d like to continue toward imbuing her with her own independent personality. Thanks for your reviews! They never fail to lighten my mood!

caseyjarryn: I know, poor Pansy, I�m so mean to her. But I didn�t want to leave as the bitchy, slutty stereotype we see so often. She has so much potential as a subplot! haha Thanks for the review!

chiquitaf16: I think Ron and Harry are sort of an exception to Hermione�s legendary temper. Not that they are exempt by any means, it just takes her longer to unleash it on them because she�s built up such a tolerance to their stupidity. But don�t worry, it won�t last forever. Sorry the �costume appreciation� isn�t coming in until next chapter. Sometimes my descriptions just run away with themselves!

mag7ical: Poor Pansy. She�d certainly be better off is she let Draco go, wouldn�t she? We�ll see what I can do with her.

katiekrm: I�m so glad that you understand that Harry and Ron can�t just suddenly be okay with Hermione dating Draco. Hello, history! I know it would be nice if they could just all get along right away, but that just doesn�t seem plausible to me. Honestly though, every encounter I write, Harry ends up angrier than I intended him to be. Sigh.

HarryGinny4eva: You get the history aspect too! Hurray! I just couldn�t see Harry and Ron going �I hate Malfoy. You�re dating him? Oh, that�s okay I guess. See you later!� I suppose I could contrive a situation where that happened but�blah. No thanks. Don�t worry, though. They�ll redeem themselves�somehow. Haha Thanks for you reviews, I love them!

LadyV: I like playful Slytherins too! (obviously) Though, there is something to be said for deliciously evil Slytherins as well. I think it�s just easier for people to rely on stereotypes sometimes. Seriously, I�m going to have to take my own view on Hufflepuffs to task at some point. One of my stories someday is going to have a likeable, interesting, intelligent �Puff! I swear it! Thanks for the review!

Brittany: Wow, what a wonderful review! It stuns me any time someone says they think I�m �talented� or �brilliant�. So thank you, thank you, thank you! I�m glad you�re loving it and I�ll continue to try and be worthy of such praise!

Gryffindor_Slytherin: I know. Poor, befuddled Pansy. I�m hoping to fit some of her history in at some point, but it�s a bit difficult with just the small chunks I�m giving her. Thank you so much for your review!

scoobysnakz (x2): My use of description is �exquisite�? Oh my�thank you so much. What a marvelous compliment! As is �I thought you were a well seasoned pro!� I tend to be extremely critical of my own work, so it astounds me when people write things like this to me. I appreciate it so, so much! Helps quell my insecurities and take greater risks in my writing! How could I not write more in the genre when I get such love from its readers? ?

amerereader: Thanks so much for your review! I�m glad you�re enjoying it, and apologies for this one taking so long. I�m always striving to do better at that!

Shebbie: haha! �Holy effs�! So funny. A friend of mine used to use �eff� and �effing� just about every other word in conversation, but �effs� is a new one! I�m glad you like my story. Thanks for the review!

Sarah Whitman (x2): I so wish that I were visually artistically inclined. The pictures in my head are so beautiful! Alas�all those genes in our family went to my older sister. Snape�s opinion: hadn�t even really thought of that! Oh, you�ve given me something interesting to think about! Thank you so much for your continued reviewing; they are always so thoughtful and thought-provoking. I really, truly appreciate your kind words and love hearing your ideas! And definite congratulations for such intelligible thoughts at 3am! ?

fan8225 (x2): Thanks so much for your reviews! I�m glad you like the chocolate idea; I�m hoping to tie it back in again in the next few chapters, but we�ll see. It�s funny that even though I�m the one writing this story, things don�t always turn out how I expect them too!

rena: Thank you for the review! I�m not sure how long this fic is going to be, so I hope you can hang in there to get �the rest�!

Carly: The first DM/HG fic you started reading? Are you coming from another fandom or are you a LM/HG or SS/HG shipper or something? I�m just curious, because I myself tend to prefer D/H just because to motivate a believable L/H or S/H is so much more difficult (and not often done extremely well). I�m pleased that my story enticed you nonetheless and I hope you continue to enjoy it!
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In Need of a Little Comfort