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Lessons and Obsessions	By : LennaNightrunner Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 85098 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN: PRESSURE

The letter had arrived fewer than two weeks before the end
of Draco�s term. Narcissa hadn�t been expecting to
hear from her son then: she assumed that he�d simply speak with her when he
arrived home if there was anything he needed to discuss. For a moment before
breaking the seal on the envelope, Narcissa had been
worried that something was wrong. Why else would he write when he�d be seeing
her so soon?

Upon reading the letter, she�d discovered that something was
indeed wrong, just not in the way that she�d expected:

Dear Mother,

I have a request to
make. I know it�s going to be a bit empty at the house this year and while I
wouldn�t intrude on the actual holiday, I thought maybe it would be all right
if I brought a friend to stay for a few days before we start school again.

Yes, it�s a witch. No,
it�s not Pansy. To tell you the truth, you�re not going to be very happy about
it. I�m not very happy about it myself, in a way. She�s muggle-born,
you see.

You know I haven�t
dropped all the thinking I was raised with, and I don�t expect you to, either. You don�t have to see her, if
you like. No one has to know, either. No one at school knows.

I�m tempted to tell
the Order just so they�d trust us a bit more, but I don�t think that�s wise at
this point, seeing as she�s Hermione Granger.

Looking
forward to seeing you.

Love,

Draco

It had taken quite a bit of restraint for Narcissa to return her son�s letter cordially. The casual
way in which he�d sprung this information on her was practically a trademark of
his. She�d wondered with annoyance where he�d ever learnt to be so cheeky.

As if the fact that he wanted to invite a muggle-born girl to their home wasn�t enough, the witch was
none other than Hermione Granger! A girl whom she had only ever heard her son
mention accompanied by insults and words of deepest loathing. And now suddenly
he was calling her his friend?

There was absolutely no way that this girl was simply a
friend. Draco had never brought any witch to stay at the Manor before, though Narcissa knew he�d been involved with more than one over
the past few years. If her son was anything like Lucius,
there had probably been even more witches than he�d let on.

Hermione Granger, though? Narcissa
had known for some time that neither she nor her son could now afford to show
open hostility to those of lesser blood, but she would never have expected
Draco to become involved with one, let alone one of Harry Potter�s closest
friends. The fact that the girl had agreed to become involved with him was even
odder, Draco�s obvious charms aside. Stranger unions had occurred, Narcissa supposed, but what exactly was the nature of this
relationship? At best, Draco was simply indulging a whimsical passion for the mudblood, who might possess a certain
attractiveness. At worst�

And the worst already seemed more likely than the best. Something
about this one must be special, Narcissa had
concluded, for Draco to ask to bring her to the Manor. She had waited for years
for her son to take a serious interest in a witch, and now she wished he
hadn�t. Why did the witch have to be muggle-born? Why
did she have to be Hermione Granger? What would Lucius
think?

Whatever Lucius thought would not
matter, however. He was gone and would not be back for a very long time if the
Ministry had their way. It must have taken Draco a fair amount of courage to
make this request. Narcissa wasn�t comfortable with
the implications of that, but she respected the fact that her son had told her about
this situation. She wouldn�t want him to hide things from her simply because he
was afraid she�d disapprove.

So she�d decided to honor his request, and had written back
within the hour:

Dear Draco,

Any friend of yours
will always be welcome in our home. Please let me know what arrangements need
to be made. I�m not accustomed to entertaining guests such as Miss Granger. I
trust you will assist me with the preparations.

I will see you soon.

Love from your mother

*****

Draco awoke with a strange weight on his chest, and a warmth at his side. He opened his eyes to look up into the
canopy of his bed, remembering that he was at home. If he were at home, though,
who was sleeping next to him? He glanced down to find Granger�s arm draped over
him, and the rest of her body pressed up against his side. She was still sleeping
soundly, and her hair was an absolute mess. That�s right; he�d invited her to
stay. Slowly, memories of the previous night and why Hermione was in his bed
returned to him.

Draco gently slid the girl�s arm off of him, painstakingly
slowly so that she wouldn�t wake. He didn�t take much time to look at her. His
thoughts from after Granger had fallen asleep weighed heavily on his mind and
he didn�t want to encourage them with further contemplation.� Quietly, he slid off the bed and padded over
to his wardrobe. He put on his robe and slippers as the manor was very drafty
in the winter, and he�d only slept in silk pyjama
bottoms because his duvet was so warm.

He crept down the stairs to the kitchen and asked the house
elf to make some tea, toast, and eggs. Receiving its assurances that it would
be done immediately, he proceeded into the dining room. He was surprised to
find his mother there, but he nodded to her and took the chair by her side. She
was reading the Daily Prophet with a frown. Draco glanced at the front page and
saw a photograph of his father. The Prophet was still writing about Lucius and other known Death Eaters every now and then when
it had no news about the Dark Lord to report.

The house elf from the kitchen brought in a tray with tea,
milk, and sugar. Draco poured himself and his mother each a cup and added the
milk and sugar to his and his mother�s individual likings. He watched in
silence as she turned the Prophet to ashes with a deft flick of her wand.

�Good morning, Mother,� Draco said quietly, sipping on his
tea as the house elf brought in his breakfast.

�Is it?� She was understandably in a foul mood.

�I suppose that remains to be seen�� Draco mumbled before he
began eating his toast. He dipped it in the egg yolks even though he knew his
mother thought it was bad manners.

�Didn�t that muggle-born girl
arrive yesterday?� Narcissa asked conversationally as
she took a sip of her tea.

Draco replied tersely, �Yes.� He mopped up the last of one
yolk with a half-eaten piece of toast.

�Do muggles not eat? Where is
she?� She raised an elegant blond eyebrow.

Draco paused, but figured he really had nothing to hide at
this point, so he simply spoke as casually as he could. �Asleep
in my bedroom.�

Narcissa smirked almost cruelly. �You
don�t waste any time, do you?�

�Not that it�s any of your business, Mother, but she was
supposed to sleep in the guest room down the hall. However, our house is
apparently terrifying at night.� The corner of Draco�s mouth turned up slightly
and his eyes became momentarily distant.

That was not the reaction Narcissa
had expected. Either a flat out lie or a shameless affirmation of her innuendo
would have been in character for Draco. But a calm and obviously
truthful explanation? She might have even written it off except for that
look on his face. There was no escaping the fact that he liked this one.

�I feel remiss for not welcoming her to our home when she
arrived,� Narcissa said casually, watching her son�s
reactions.

Draco�s split second of quick thinking did not go unnoticed
by his mother. �It was late when we arrived. I assumed you wouldn�t be up to
entertaining.�

There was a moment of silence wherein blue and gray eyes
were locked in a delicate staring match. Neither�s
masklike face betrayed anything.

�Are you protecting her from me, Draco?� Narcissa
asked in an eerily even voice.

�What?� Draco blinked, losing the match. He shook his head
as if the notion were absurd. �Don�t be ridiculous. I just didn�t think you�d
want to see her. She asked me to thank you, by the way, for letting her stay.�

�Decent manners for a mudblood,� Narcissa said nonchalantly. Draco couldn�t help but smile
to himself ruefully at how well he knew his mother.

There was nothing for it. She had to meet this muggle-born girl. She had to know what she was like and
figure out how Draco felt about her. There was nothing to be gained by
attempting to harm the girl, but making her feel too welcome might be
dangerous. Narcissa�s main concern was what Draco was
doing with her. Though she didn�t like to think about it when it came to her
son, she understood that wizards had certain desires. She had never been severe
on him about dallying with witches. But if this was more than
that�

�We must all have dinner together tonight,� declared Narcissa unexpectedly. �What does she like to eat?�

Draco was taken aback by his mother�s abrupt question. What
did Granger like to eat, come to think of it? �I�I�m not sure, actually.�

Narcissa smiled genially, looking
every bit the cultured hostess she was raised to be. �Do you think a roast
chicken will suffice?�

�I� suppose�� Draco replied confusedly. Deciding that it
wasn�t worth arguing with his mother if she was determined to turn Granger�s
visit into a social event, he gave her free reign. �I�m sure whatever you
decide will be fine, Mother.�

�Excellent,� said Narcissa with
finality. �Then I shall see you both at eight o�clock.�

*****

Hermione awoke to the sound of a door closing. The light
peeking through the curtains was bright, leading her to conclude that she must
have slept far later than she usually did. She also didn�t remember where she
was for a moment until she registered Draco�s scent surrounding her. She rolled
over and blinked a few times until the large blur she saw by the door focused
itself into Draco carrying a tray full of food.

�What time is it?� Hermione asked as she sat up, pulling
back the covers and shivering as her body adjusted to the temperature.

�After eleven, you lazy cow,� Draco said with a smirk as he
put the tray on the bedside table.

�You brought me breakfast?� She was amazed and slightly
suspicious.

�The house elves were about to get rid of it and start
lunch. Eat it before I have to reheat it,� Malfoy
twirled his wand in his fingers with an expression of studied unconcern.

Hermione was suddenly very hungry and reached eagerly for
the eggs and toast. Draco went over to his wardrobe and began to dress.
Hermione watched him out of the corner of her eye as she devoured her
breakfast. She never seemed to tire of seeing him naked.

Draco took his time pulling on a pair of black trousers and
a gray-blue button-up shirt, knowing that Hermione was watching. It was warm
enough in the house at that time of day that he didn�t need to put a jumper on
over the long-sleeved shirt. Once he was fully dressed, he turned back toward
Hermione, noting that she had just finished her breakfast in record time.

�Someone was hungry,� he said with one eyebrow raised in
such a way that there could be no mistaking the fact that he was Narcissa�s son. �If you�re hungry again before this
evening, I�d suggest having a light tea. Mother�s invited us to dine with her
at eight o�clock.�

Hermione almost dropped the cup of tea she was drinking, but
she managed to recover and set it back on the tray safely. �Tonight?!�

Draco had to fight mightily to suppress the urge to burst out
laughing. Granger looked absolutely horrified. �Yes, tonight.�

�Why are you laughing at me?� Hermione glared daggers at Malfoy as he began to snicker in spite of himself. She was
having trouble deciding which she was feeling more strongly: fury or terror.

�She�s not going to bite.� Draco stood by the wardrobe and
watched in amusement as Hermione rushed around the room, apparently trying to
find her clothing and other things she needed to get ready without realizing
that she wasn�t in her own room, and thus didn�t have any of her things.

�You�ve got over eight hours,� Draco drawled. �You needn�t
rush quite so much.�

�But I haven�t anything to wear! And I�ll have to take a
bath and start mixing my hair potions and��

�Enough,� said Draco so firmly that he didn�t have to raise
his voice to get Hermione to close her mouth immediately. He continued in
clipped tones that demanded attention. �There are plenty of lovely robes and
shoes and whatever else you need here. They�re all charmed to fit the person
wearing them. The bathroom is down the hall near your room, and it�s probably
stocked with all manner of hair potions.�

Hermione felt foolish for not thinking that such a big house
would have all of these things. �But why does your mother want to see
me? I thought she hated me. You said she wouldn�t want to see me!�

�If you don�t stop this immediately I�m silencing you,�
Draco said warningly, grabbing and holding Hermione by the shoulders. She
looked ridiculous: she had been stopped in the midst of her frantic running
around, so that her nightgown was half off and her hair was even messier than
it had been when she woke up.

Draco reached down and finished pulling Hermione�s nightgown
over her head, as casually as if he�d been opening a bottle of butter beer.
This left her in nothing but a pair of maroon cotton knickers. Hermione
shivered both because of the cold and because of Draco�s intense gaze as he
looked her up and down unabashedly.

�There�s a sight I haven�t seen in a while,� Draco said with
a smirk, sliding his hands down Hermione�s bare sides, feeling the curve of her
hips appreciatively. When his eyes fell upon the scrap of maroon cloth,
however, he growled.

�I thought I told you not to wear that color unless you�re
in uniform,� he chastised.

Hermione looked up at him guiltily. �I just wore them to
sleep in� I didn�t think you�d be seeing me� like this��

�You have two options,� said Draco with a mischievous gleam
in his eye. �You can either take those off�� one of the hands he had on her
hips began to suggestively slide the fabric of her knickers down slightly, �or
you can put your uniform on.�

Draco could not have been more pleased with himself as he
watched Hermione struggle over the dilemma. She flushed furiously, more in
anger than embarrassment. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea
of Granger in her uniform, as long as it was on his terms. Even if she chose
nudity instead, he made a mental note to be sure to get her to sully that
uniform sometime soon.

Hermione whimpered in indecision as Draco tugged at her
knickers, pulling her towards the bed very slowly and methodically. �Draco, no,
we� we haven�t got time.�

�You can spare an hour,� Draco said as bowed his head to
lick a trail across the side of her neck, causing her to shiver.

�But�� Hermione�s eyes slid shut as Draco�s warm lips and
tongue explored her neck and it felt as if it had been so long�

�Come on, Granger,� Draco said hotly against her ear. �Earn
the night you just spent in my bed.�

*****

�This was a mistake,� Draco said lowly as he paced back and
forth in front of the large bay window in his bedroom. He was fully dressed and
ready and they still had nearly an hour before dinner.

Hermione looked over at him from where she stood in front of
his full-length mirror, fidgeting with her dress robes worriedly. �What?�

�Bringing you here.�

Hermione stared at him in affronted disbelief. �You wouldn�t
take no for an answer!�

Draco waved her down. �I know, I know. I�m an idiot.�

Hermione�s anxiety magnified her irritation as she tried to udnerstand his line of thinking. �Because
you invited me here?�

He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. �Because I never brought anyone else here before.�

�Why should that matter?�

Draco gripped the window�s thick velvet curtain and resisted
the urge to tear it from the wall. �She�s going to think it�s significant
somehow.�

�Who?� Hermione walked over to
Draco, hoping to make more sense out of him.

He blinked at her as if the answer should be obvious. �My mother.�

Hermione still didn�t quite understand. �What will she think
is significant?�

�You,� he growled,
losing his patience.

She took a step back away from him and looked at him in
silence, wondering where his sudden nervousness had come from. Hermione had
thought she was the only one who would be at all worried about their dinner
together.

Draco sighed and looked at Hermione as if in begrudging
apology, but not saying the words. He didn�t want to talk about this anymore.
There was nothing they could do about it now. He just needed it to be eight
o�clock so he could stop thinking about it. He needed a distraction�

�We�ve still got half an hour before dinner�� Draco took
Hermione�s hand and drew her toward him, keeping her close without wrinkling
her robes. He watched her eyes close as he dipped his head to her neck. Her
skin was warm and soft against his lips and he wished they had hours before
dinner. It hadn�t been enough earlier. He felt as if they had weeks to make up
for.

Taking her lack of movement as encouragement, he latched
onto the smooth skin, sucking and biting with restrained passion. She smelled
and tasted so good, how would he ever pull away?

�Don�t,� she managed to breathe out through a strangled
moan. As sore as she was from their earlier interlude, Hermione wanted nothing
more than to forget all about dinner and let Draco take her back to bed with
him. She didn�t want to see Narcissa Malfoy. She didn�t want to be wearing the beautiful robes
that made her feel like an imposter. What if wizarding
etiquette was different? What if there were extra spoons or something? Was
there anything she could possibly say or do that would convince Draco�s mother
that she wasn�t a worthless muggle tramp who was
letting herself be used?

Draco released her for a moment and licked his lips, but
kept his mouth close to Hermione�s neck. No other part of their bodies was
touching, and he felt unbalanced without that connection. �Why
not?�

�You�ll leave a mark,� Hermione said in a low voice,
fidgeting nervously. She had to control herself; they were about to have dinner.
�She�ll see.�

�So?� Draco�s voice drawled and then faded as he ran his
tongue along the outline of the love bite he�d just made.

Hermione shivered, but did not move. �You don�t care if your
mother sees something like that?�

Draco shrugged and bit gently on the tender flesh again,
working his mouth around her skin to darken the mark, emphasizing just how much
he didn�t care. �She knows why you�re here.�

A groan escaped Hermione�s lips and she leaned into the warmth
of Draco�s mouth on her neck, even though she knew a bruise was probably
forming there as they spoke. �Please heal it, Draco. Even if she knows, I don�t
want her sitting there thinking that I�m some kind of��

�Mudblood whore?� Malfoy asked darkly against her ear before sliding his
tongue from lobe to top around the edge.

Hermione shivered violently in reaction to the combination
of his hot breath, the dirty words he had said, and tone of voice. �Yes��

Draco mock-pouted and pulled away to look her in the eyes,
challenging her to deny the effect his words had had. �But I thought you liked
it when I called you that.�

The look on his face was so inviting, so hard to resist. Commanding, playful, seductive all at once. It wasn�t fair
how easily he could make her want to do whatever he said. No, this was serious.
She was about to meet Narcissa Malfoy
and all Draco wanted to do was continue what they�d started a few hours ago.

�This isn�t a game,� Hermione whispered as she lowered her
eyes.

Draco�s expression became more serious, but his tone was
still relatively light. �That doesn�t mean it can�t be fun.�

Hermione struggled away from Malfoy
and sat on a nearby bench, hiding her face in her hands. �She must hate me. I
can�t imagine the things you�ve told her about me all these years.�

Draco looked over at Granger from where he stood and said
simply, �People change.�

Hermione wondered for a moment which �people� he might have
been referring to, but did not find his words comforting. �Yes, I�m sure she�s
thrilled to have me here. You�re right, this was a mistake.�

�Why do you care what she thinks?� Draco asked as he gave
her a probing look. He hadn�t expected Granger to give a damn about what his
mother thought of her. Sure, Granger wanted people to like her, but she never
seemed to go out of her way to gain the good opinion of people she didn�t
respect.

�Shouldn�t you?�
Hermione countered. �You�re her son, after all.�

Draco shrugged. �I do care. I�ve made a huge mess of
everything and now I�ll probably have to endure snide comments about marrying mudbloods until I�m thirty.�

�Marrying�?� Hermione�s face paled two shades in the span of
two seconds.

�I told you,� Draco explained calmly. �You�re the only witch
I�ve ever brought home. The Malfoy family only has
one heir. She�s been waiting for me to turn seventeen since I was born, trying
to match me up with every eligible Pureblood witch
she comes across, and now I�ve probably given her the impression that I�ve got
some ludicrous intention of��

Hermione�s face went from pale to an angry pink within
seconds, and her eyebrows knitted together in indignation. �I get the point.
I�m not marriage material. No worries there. I have no wish to become a Malfoy, believe you me.�

�Too good for you, are we?� Draco asked in the most superior
tone he could muster.

�Not good enough,� Hermione replied defiantly as she grabbed
her wand and moved to the mirror to heal the mark Draco had left on her neck.

Draco rolled his eyes and said acidly, �Oh, Mother�s going
to love you.�

There was a pause during which each of them tried very hard
not to smile. Hermione took that as her cue that their argument was over, at
least for now. She stood up and straightened her robes, fighting the nervous
butterflies that threatened to escape her stomach and wishing that it were all
over.

�Draco?� she asked nervously as he combed his fingers
through his hair one last time.

�Yes?� he stopped fidgeting and looked over at her.

She hesitated. It was so stupid, but she couldn�t help but
think there was something she ought to know about how things were done in these
families. �You wouldn�t happen to have a book on wizarding
etiquette, would you?�

Draco stared at her disbelievingly. �Granger, dinner�s in ten minutes.�

�I know, but�� Hermione fidgeted worriedly.

�No.�

Without further ceremony, he took her hand and practically
dragged her out the door and down the stairs to the dining room.

*****

A/N: Okay, before you all lynch me for being a tease, I
promise there will be smut in the next chapter! It just seemed like it would
interrupt the flow here. Plus, it�s a long chapter already and smut takes a
long time to write out. I hope you liked it even though I�m awful with all the
suggestive-but-not-smut stuff.

As always, special thanks go to my illustrious beta, twist_shimmy, who gave me the inspiration for the
conversation about the etiquette book and reassured me that my Narcissa doesn�t suck. I really hope she doesn�t. I�m so
nervous when I try to do a new character.

I have to give PotterEntourage
credit for giving me the idea of showing the letter that Draco wrote to his
mother about having Hermione come to stay at the manor. I hope you liked the
way it turned out, PE! I had a lot of fun with it :) Thanks again!

hrmny4etrnty2�Thanks so much! I am definitely into internal
conflict, if you couldn�t tell already, hehe. I wish
I knew the answers to those soap opera questions! Hopefully we�ll both find out
soon!

HarryGinny4eva�I know, he�s got so much armor! I think a lot
of what he does is unintentional, and he�s not the only one who has some major
soul-searching to do, but he is the one that has the hardest part admitting
things to himself. Thanks for the compliments! I hope
you continue to like the fic!

kazfeist�Glad you like Draco�s growth process. He�s so tricky in
that respect. I�m not sure he understands how he�s feeling half the time, and
even when he does, he has no idea what to do about it. So figuring out what Hermione�s
feeling is a big step for him, but now he has to decide what to do about it. I�m
not sure what he�ll do, but I�m optimistic, lol.

Snapes_Goddess�Bah,
you�re not a horrible reviewer! As long as you�re reading and enjoying, I don�t
really care. Reviews are always lovely, of course, but I don�t want you to be
stressed about it! I love a redeemed Draco, too. I�m hoping to redeem him
without taking away all of his fun prattishness.

passionlotus420�Yeah I�m not a big fan of tragedy or too
much angst so I try to keep it balanced. I�m glad you�re enjoying the fic and hopefully Draco will decide what he wants sometime
soon!

scarletwitchextreme�Oh Scarlet, another reviewgasm!
You never fail me ;). Happy New Year to you, too! Let�s get down to business,
shall we? Chapter thirteen: Thanks for the compliments on my smut-writing! It�s
always so difficult to get right for me because of their particular brand of
chemistry, but it�s good to hear that I pull it off. I�m a big fan of that
whole scene so I�m glad you liked it, too. I think it�s a turning point for
them, even though they may not really realize it. Chapter fourteen: Yeah a lot
of people seemed to find the holiday visit unexpected. I hope it�s not too unbelievable.
Honestly, I had no idea Draco was planning on doing that until I wrote it. Why
is he so sneaky? I like your magnet analogy about their attraction to each
other (the fact that one of my chapters is called Magnetism is no coincidence).
I think we�re all waiting on pins and needles to see what happens when Narcissa and Hermione meet, especially after chapter
sixteen. I�m scared! Chapter fifteen: Poor Draco and Hermione. So confused, so conflicted, so very fucked. Glad you liked
the chapter, and I hoped you liked sixteen as well! Thanks again!
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Lessons and Obsessions