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The Lost Time	By : kate0404 Category: Harry Potter > Round Robins > Round Robins Views: 13264 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: All works published herein make no claims on the ownership of the characters of Harry Potter, which is the rightful intellectual property of J.K. Rowling, Paramount, Scholastic and Bloomsbury.

Chapter List
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It took only a millisecond for everything to go pitch black. Hermione had just opened the brass clasp around the owl�s foot, when suddenly flashes of dim light flickered before her eyes in rapid succession, like the fluttering wings of a hummingbird. It almost made her dizzy, a wave of nausea rising in her throat. Then everything stopped and went quiet, her heart pounding in her ears. Now it was so dark, she couldn�t see her hand in front of her face, let alone anything else.
�What happened?� Draco demanded, his voice sounding strangely disembodied in the darkness.
�Hold on.� Hermione hissed, trying to get her bearings straight. She hated it when things didn�t go the way she planned. It made her feel out of control.
She could feel Draco�s hand touching hers. It made her skin prickle, like there was some strange magical connection. Yet it was soothing, his fingers gently resting on her wrist, trying to detect her pulse. Like all Aurors, he was trying to assess her state of mind. Grumpily she pulled her hand away, reluctant for him to know how jittery she was.
The owl squawked between them, flapping his wings around in dismay, the dirty feathers hitting her chin. �It�s all right,� Hermione cooed, trying to calm the bird down. It wasn�t working very well though. Pulling the Time-Turner from its leg, the owl violently pecked her finger, then flew off into the darkness. Hermione yelped.
�What happened? Are you alright?� Draco reached out and touched her forearm.
�Yes,� Hermione snapped, pushing his hand way. �The stupid owl just bit me, that�s all.� She didn�t mean to sound so curt, but the frisson of alarm creeping along her spine told her something had just gone terribly wrong.
Draco was indignant, standing up. �Well you don�t have to bite my head off.�
Hermione sighed. �I�m sorry.�
�Right.� Draco grumbled a response.
She could hear him moving around, brushing off his pants. Then he whispered, �Illuminate,� which made the big blue bubble lights used in all Magical corporate buildings switch on. The room was suddenly flooded in bright light, and both of them blinked and squinted as their eyes adjusted.
Hermione's jaw dropped in amazement.
Her office now looked like a storeroom, boxes and scrolls stacked everywhere. Her worktable was covered in dust and the Venetian water plant that she had tended to so lovingly these past few months was dead and shriveled up like dried seaweed, the water in the aquarium evaporated away. �My plant,� she cried
�Forget the bloody plant,� Draco scolded, helping her to her feet. �What happened to Harry and Simpson?�
Hermione shrugged and pushed her hair out of her eyes. �I think they�re in another time.�
�Another time?� Draco frowned, his tone condescending. �You didn�t break the Circadian Time Stream did you?�
Hermione was surprised he knew about that. Obviously Malfoy knew just enough about Time Methodology to be annoying. The Circadian Time Stream was a magical physics law that stated that all time ran together in parallel lines, meaning that if someone broke the stream, other time periods could leak into the other, destroying the chronological order of the world.
�No I didn�t do anything as careless as that!� Hermione retorted indignantly. She wasn�t sure she cared for his tone. �I think something may have gone wrong with the Time-Turner and it threw us out of whack.�
�You think?� Draco sneered. �You mean you don�t know? Isn�t this your area of expertise? Don�t you know what you�re doing?� He was glaring at her, his hands upon his hips.
Hermione bristled, her teeth gnashing together. How dare he question her ability! �Yes I know what I�m doing. Of course, I know what I�m doing. I�m an Unspeakable, for Merlin�s sake!� she argued defensively. �Oh never mind�you wouldn�t understand anyway. After all, you�re just an mindless prat!� In a huff, she turned away.
Draco reached out and grabbed her arm, whipping her around. �What wouldn�t I understand? You think I�m stupid? Talk to me, Granger, what�s going on?� His piercing gray eyes scrutinized her.
Hermione looked down at his hand with distaste. �Unhand me!� she demanded, straightening her back. She was trying to appear calm, but inside she was fuming, her hands trembling. This was just great! Of all the people she had to be stuck with, why did it have to be Draco Malfoy? He was the most patronizing man in the world, lecturing her about safety procedures, chiding her on the dangers of time travel. He once even reported her to the Wizengamot for not following ministry protocol. Cheeky bastard!
What irritated her the most though was that she found him ridiculously attractive. That�s probably why his touch unnerved her so much. No man should be that good looking.
Draco sighed and let her go, running his fingers through his short blond hair. �Sorry, I�m just trying to get to the bottom of this.�
Hermione shook her fist at him. �Well I�ll warn you now. Touch me again Malfoy and I�ll punch you in the nose.�
Draco�s eyes narrowed. �If you punch me in the nose, I�ll pull up your skirts, yank down your knickers and spank that pert little bare arse of yours until it�s cherry red. How do you like that?�
Hermione gasped, the blood rushing to her face. She couldn�t believe he just said that. She half suspected he would do it too. �You wouldn�t dare!�
Draco chuckled, a grin spreading across his face. �Not only would I dare, Granger. I�d enjoy it�immensely.�
Hermione blushed, a tiny rush of heat coiling through her body. Gods, he was serious. The realization made her body quiver.
She had no doubt that he would carry out his threat. After all, he was a formidable man, an Auror, who pursued renegade Death Eaters with a grim determination that almost bordered on obsession. Of course she had to admit, most Aurors were like that. It just didn�t make sense that Draco was, seeing how he once was a Death Eater himself.
Menacingly, Draco rubbed his hands together. �So are you going to start talking?�
Hermione sniffed. She felt like she didn�t have much choice now. �Well to be honest, I don�t know exactly what happened. I suspect we�ve just been transported into the future.� Quickly she glanced down at the brass Time-Turner in her hand, then shoved it in her white, lab coat pocket. �Three years to be exact.�
�Three years?� Draco�s eyes opened wide in shock. �Wait a second, aren�t Time-Turners supposed to work backward?�
Hermione cringed. �Well yes they are, but not this one. This one travels anywhere.� Nervous, she let out a tiny giggle, which mortified her.
Draco�s jaw clenched. She knew what he was thinking. He was wondering how the hell she got approval to make such a device. Then his eyes flashed, and she knew that he knew. She didn�t get approval.
Suddenly he was livid. �I can�t believe you did this. It�s outrageous! So you just created a future Time-Turner without discussing it with anybody?�
Hermione stammered. �Don�t you see--�
�No, I don�t see,� he snarled. �I don�t see at all! You know what they say about the dangers of future time travel. It goes against the law of magical physics.�
Hermione held up her hand.. �Oh don�t start with me on that crap! Why do people always quote magical physic�s laws like it�s illegal if you break them? It�s only a theory, Draco, a theory�and an outdated one at that. I�m not going to be hemmed in by some short-sighted hypothesis that doesn�t even allow us to try new things. Besides, let me remind you, I am an Unspeakable and I have the authority to make these kind of decisions�
Draco shook his head fiercely, his face ruddy. �Do you think being an Unspeakable makes you exempt? That you can do whatever the hell you want? It doesn�t. And as part of the security team for the Ministry, this project should have been brought before me, or at the very least, Potter should have been informed. Do you have any idea what you�ve done?�
Hermione stood her ground, trying not to let him intimidate her. �My experiments were perfectly safe.�
Draco pointed his finger at her. �How do you know? How can you be so sure? Are you so arrogant that you would disregard some of the greatest wizarding minds in history? There are reasons why future time travel is not allowed. I still can�t believe you didn�t run this by the Auror department for a safety assessment.�
�Oh right!� Hermione threw up her hands, her voice sarcastic. �Gods forbid that I didn�t notify the bloody Auror department. Here I am, talking about a great innovation, and you�re quoting me antiquated safety procedures. This is why the Department of Magical Law and Enforcement drives me up the wall. I swear you�re all stuck in a box. The wizarding world will never move forward, if we always play it safe!�
Draco turned up his nose. �Excuse me, but those safety procedures were put in place for your protection.�
Hermione just waved him away. �Stop right there. I don�t want to hear it. If you want to write me up for not following Ministry protocol, you go right ahead. Right now though, I need to get us back to the present.�
�You do that!� Draco turned away and agitatedly paced the floor.
�Thank you, I will!� Hermione fumed, tying to ignore him.
To be honest, Hermione couldn�t blame him for being upset. After all, he had just been thrown three years into the future. That had to be unnerving. Yet it bothered her that he didn�t have more faith in her. Didn�t he know she was the foremost expert on time? She graduated with honors at the Magical University of Oxford. She had been studying time intervals meticulously for the last four years. She even wrote her dissertation on Time Ribbons and how they related to the Circadian Time Stream. Not to mention, she had been given numerous awards for her theories on time travel and Time Methodology.
Who was he, but a pain in the arse Auror!
On the other hand, she had a nagging feeling that he might be right. Obviously something went wrong�very wrong. She could feel it in her stomach. She wasn�t quite sure what though. That was the worst part, not knowing. How did she, Draco and her conjured owl go through the time portal at the same time? The Time-Turner was only supposed to carry one entity, not three. She had even set it with a series of safety spells to prevent this from happening.
Come to think of it, what happened to the owl anyway? He had just disappeared into the darkness, flying off to who knows where.
Alarmed, Hermione started looking around the office. To her horror, she found the bird laying flat on one of the bookshelves, his body stiff. Immediately she rushed to the bookcase and picked him up. His body was limp and his head drooped to one side. �No!� she cried, looking up at Draco. �He�s dead.�
Draco rushed over. �What killed him?�
Hermione shook her head, perplexed. �I don�t know. He was just an owl I conjured up, but the time travel shouldn�t have killed him.� Now she felt sick, holding the dead bird.
Carefully, Draco took the owl from her hands and ran his wand over the carcass, igniting different magical fields to swirl over the body. Then he watched them astutely, his expression intense.
Hermione had heard Draco was going to school to study magical forensics. Harry even made a joke about it, saying that �Malfoy could only get along with dead people.� She found she admired him for that.
Draco shook his head and frowned. �It�s some form of unraveling spell. I�ve never seen anything like it. I�d have to run some tests to know for sure though.� Suspiciously he turned to her. �I have a very bad feeling about this.�
Hermione nodded and swallowed hard. Obviously her Timer-Turner was flawed. If only she knew what happened. Damn it, she needed her books and her diagrams and she needed to find her notes. Where would they put everything? And last but not least, she needed her bell jar that was filled with time.
Somewhat panicked, she started to look around, pushing boxes out of the way, moving papers to and fro. To her relief she did find a couple of her textbooks and some of her notes were buried underneath some rubbish, dust flying everywhere. Her Time in a Jar though, was nowhere to be seen. At the time of the accident, it had been sitting on her bookshelf, but now it was lost in time.
Draco seemed to sense her distress, setting down the owl, moving up beside her. �Talk to me Granger. What are we looking for?�
�A bell jar.�
�The kind with a vacuum?�
Hermione nodded.
�What�s in it?� Draco put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.
�Time.� Hermione could feel her hands shaking. If the Timer-Turner was flawed, it wouldn�t be safe to use it to take them back. And if she couldn�t find her Time in a Jar, she wouldn�t be able to make another one.
�You managed to trap time in a jar?� Draco asked incredulously.
Hermione shook her head mournfully. �I didn�t trap it. It was already there. No one knows where the Time Jar came from. It�s an oddity from the Department of Mysteries. There is only one known in existence.�
�What does it do?�
Hermione sighed and threw a stack of useless papers on her desk letting them scatter across the top, falling to the floor. She almost wanted to cry. �The best way to explain it would be, it�s like a hole in the Circadian Time Stream. Yet it�s safe because the hole is trapped in a jar.�
Draco�s gray eyes opened wide with surprise. �That�s some serious shit.�
Hermione nodded. �Yes�and without it, I can�t build a new Timer-Turner.� Sadly she pulled the Time-Turner out of her pocket and looked down at the brass device, spinning in her hand, holding it up for Draco to see. �And this Timer-Turner isn�t working right, so I am afraid to use it until I figure out what went wrong.�
Draco stiffened, his expression cold. �That�s just great! So what do we do now?�
Hermione sighed. �I may need some time to work on this�a few days maybe. It�s imperative that we aren�t seen though.�
Draco gave her a disgusted look. �That�s not going to be easy. Do you have any other bad news?�
�I hope not.� Hermione gulped. For the first time in a long time, she didn�t know quite what to say.

It was dark and rainy when Draco Apparated with Hermione outside the west wing of Malfoy Manor. So dark in fact, Hermione could barely see, stumbling along the cobblestone path in her strappy sandals, her feet getting wet, crushing dead leaves and underbrush beneath her heels. With the cold wind rustling her hair, she half suspected the rain might turn to sleet. If only she had her winter coat, she grumbled, but it was gone, forgotten three years ago. So she tucked her books and notes underneath her white, lab coat and hurried along.
Draco didn�t say a word, his short blond hair damp, sticking to his scalp.
She knew he was still angry with her. How could she not, with the way he was ignoring her, his back all stiff and straight. He reminded her of some imperious lord, walking around in his long dark ministry Auror robes and matching black boots, his heels clicking on the pavement. If only he had a cane and his coat, he would definitely be the perfect pureblood gentleman, man about town. It made her want to throw something at him. She couldn�t deny she was irrevocably attracted to him. There was just something about him that drew her gaze. It was driving her crazy.
Back in the office, he had reprimanded her pretty harshly for her mistake, scolding her like she was twelve. It was galling. There was no talking to him either. Why couldn�t he understand that sometimes experiments went awry? Setbacks were normal. Yes it was true, there was something wrong with the Time-Turner, and that had scared her at first, but now that she was calm and she was convinced she could fix it. She always did. All they had to do was find a place to hole up for a few days until she could figure this out. Yet she couldn�t emphasize enough, that they absolutely, positively, could not be seen.
Of course this only infuriated Draco more. �You�ve certainly managed to muck things up, Granger!� he complained, glaring at her with resentment. It seems he had some posh party he was supposed to go to tonight.
Hermione tried to tell him he would still be able to go to his party when they got back, but Draco didn�t even want to listen to her, walking away.
Yet he took her request seriously, whisking them out of the Ministry of Magic with ease. Actually, she couldn�t have been with a better person to sneak out of the building. Draco had been on the security board for a year, so he knew all about the Ministry�s safeguards. She wasn�t too sure about Malfoy Manor though.
Running to catch up, she reached out and grabbed his arm. �Are you sure your parents never go into the west wing?� she demanded, looking inside the darkened windows, a small shiver running up her spine. �And what about the elves? We must not let them see us either.�
Draco gave her a sideways glance, then stopped in front of a multi-glass-plated door, unlocking the metal screen. �Don�t worry,� he grumbled. �Unlike you, I understand all about safety precautions and will ensure that we aren�t seen.�
Hermione rolled her eyes sarcastically. �That�s a relief. It�s so reassuring to have someone from the Auror Department run a safety assessment.�
�Watch it, Granger.� Draco gave her a warning glance. �And to answer your question, no, my parents don�t come to this part of the house, neither do the elves. It�s infested with Perfidious Ivy.�
�Perfidious Ivy!� Instinctively she started to itch.
Draco nodded and lit his wand, illuminating the room. �Unfortunately, yes.�
Cautiously Hermione followed him inside, nearly gasping when she looked around.
Before her was a spacious drawing room that had been frozen in time. There were marble floors and vaulted archways, all adorned with stylish Art Deco furniture. A border along the wall was decorated with swirling fans, all inlaid with mother of pearl. It almost reminded Hermione of a 1930s movie, only this was in color.
There was even a painting of a gray-eyed, blonde flapper girl (an obvious Malfoy) that hung over the black marble fireplace and winked at her when she stepped inside. �Hello there, luv.�
�Hello,� Hermione replied, feeling rather awkward.
Yet what startled her was the overgrowth of Perfidious Ivy that covered the walls, ceiling and furniture. It was everywhere, like moss and it smelled strong, like fresh cut grass. The small narrow vines and dark green leaves encircled table legs, bookcases and even the chandelier. �Good Gods�it�s taken over.�
�Tell me about it,� Draco grumbled, locking the door behind him. �We�ve tried to get rid of it, but the bloody thing is sentient.�
�Are you serious?� Hermione was incredulous. �I didn�t know plants were very smart.�
�This one is. It knows when we�re coming and locks the doors to protect itself. It�s also got these nasty little purple flowers that are highly poisonous. After years of war, we finally decided to just give it up and give it the west wing. Loathsome plant!�
�Oh don�t say that, Draco darling.� The flapper girl in the painting giggled. �The ivy will be mad at you.�
Draco grimaced. �Yes, and we wouldn�t want that now would we.�
�No we wouldn�t!� Hermione agreed, inwardly grimacing at all the vegetation. Hesitant, she didn�t want to go any further. She kept thinking about the last time she was in Malfoy Manor, when Bellatrix Lestrange tortured her.
Draco gently took her hand. �It�s all right,� he whispered, leading her through the darkened hallways, holding his wand up like a tiny blue beacon.
Outside the rain had increased, causing the roof to leak. Water dripped into pans and buckets, set out on the floors and on the tables, echoing inside the rooms, making the house tinkle with eerie music.
�This place is creepy,� she whispered.
Draco gave her palm a reassuring squeeze.
Hermione squeezed back. She decided she rather liked having Draco here with her. It made her feel safe. He was so sure of himself and confident or maybe it was an act. It didn�t stop her from stealing a glance or two in his direction
In retrospect, he was quite different than the boy she knew in school. The man next to her was serious and reserved, almost dangerous, an undercurrent of fierce protectiveness radiating from his masculine frame. He seemed to watch everything with moody silence as if he couldn�t relax. She even wondered if he slept.
At the end of the hall was an arched doorway. Draco led Hermione inside, bringing her to a dusky blue bedroom with a large four-poster bed, draped in cornflower blue silk. Plush blue carpet spread out beneath her feet and an S-shaped ottoman sat neatly in the corner.
Draco walked over to the fireplace and knelt down, murmuring a spell to eliminate the dust. �It�s freezing in here,� he told her, throwing a log into the hearth. �And I think this firewood is eighty years old.�
Hermione chuckled, gazing around at the walls and the ceiling. �There�s no ivy in here.�
Draco nodded, lifting his wand to light the fire. �Yes, this room is bewitched. It�s part of an old spell that was created by my great, great, great grandmother, Elizabeth Malfoy. She hexed the room to protect her baby. It was an Elvin spell, �Lanook mi nair platanda,� which means, No malign force can dwell here.�
�Useful spell.� Hermione mused, pulling off her wet lab coat, hanging it in the dusty closet. �I didn�t know you could speak Elvin�
Draco smiled. �Yes I speak and write both Elvin and Faerie�my pronunciation is horrendous though. The elves laugh at me.�
Hermione laughed, amused at the image of elves laughing at Draco. She was impressed though. After all, both those languages weren�t easy to master. �If I known you spoke Elvin, I would have asked you translate some scrolls for me.�
�What? You mean me?� Draco teased. �But I�m just an mindless prat. I don�t know anything.�
�Oh stop it, please.� Hermione blushed and shook her head. �I�m sorry I said that. Honestly I didn�t mean it. I was just frustrated. You see, I�ve been working on this project for the last year.�
Draco held up his hand and shook his head. �Stop right there. I don�t want to hear it. I can�t believe you, of all people, were so careless.�
Hermione felt a lump in her throat. She supposed she deserved his admonishment, but that didn�t make it any easier.
Slowly she moved up next to him by the fire and knelt down, touching his hand. �Draco, I promise, I will get you back home. If it�s the last thing I do.�
Draco turned and looked her straight in the eye. �I�m going to hold you to that.�
For a moment, an awkward silence stilled between them, until she finally spoke. �So can you cast an Elvin spell?�
Draco nodded. �I think so. I haven�t tried it yet. You know they�re the most potent spells there are, impossible to break. Voldemort couldn�t step inside this room.�
�Really?� Hermione looked around.
�Really.� Draco threw another log on the fire. �So you�re safe.�
Hermione smiled. �I know."

It was almost nine o�clock by the time they ate. Draco snuck off to the kitchen, stealing them some diner and a couple bottles of wine. It was a simple meal of beef stew and a loaf of French bread. Hermione was ravenous though, so she thought it was delicious, buttering her bread, sopping up the juice at the bottom of her bowl.
Draco watched her amused, sitting on the carpet, drinking his merlot. He had kicked off his shoes and now was in his stocking feet, his Ministry robes hanging in the closet. He looked casual, his blond hair in sharp contrast to his black sweater. Hermione had never seen him so relaxed, his pale face glowing in the golden firelight.
Hermione stretched out on the carpet and took a drink of her wine. �So even the elves avoid this place.�
Draco shook his head. �Yes. They are deathly allergic to the Ivy. It makes them break out in green spots.� He chuckled. �It�s not a pretty sight.�
Hermione giggled and took another sip of her wine, a warm rush coming over her. She found it ironic that this was rather romantic. If only she could be with somebody else. She was worried that she was getting tipsy though and nervously looked over at the big four-poster bed, setting down her wineglass, pushing her tweed skirt over her knees. �So where are we going to sleep?�
Draco yawned and stretched his legs. �I�m sleeping in the bed.�
Hermione sat up. �Where do you expect me to sleep?�
�I don�t know.� Draco chuckled. �There are other bedrooms, but they�re covered in ivy. You can sleep on the floor I suppose.� Casually he looked over at the bed and grinned. �Or you could sleep with me.�
Hermione stiffened. �I am not sleeping with you, Malfoy!�
Draco now let out a belly laugh. �Well I guess that means you�re sleeping on the floor then, doesn�t it?�
Hermione glared at him. �I can�t believe you won�t be a gentleman and offer me the bed.�
Draco set down his empty wineglass and stood up, his hands on his hips. �Obviously you�ve got me confused with your chump friend, Harry Potter.� He turned and walked over to the bed.
Outraged, Hermione jumped up and shoved him to the side, grabbing up a slew of blankets, bedspread and pillows, carrying them over to the floor in a huff, making a make-shift bed �Tomorrow� we need to find another place to stay!�
Draco chuckled and walked over to the closet, pulling out some blankets and pillows from there. �No, tomorrow, you need to get us back to our own time. You started this mess Granger, not I.�
Hermione sucked in her breath and mumbled. �Prat.�
�What was that?�
�Never mind.� Grumpily she turned to the fire, puffing up her pillow in frustration. The man was insufferable! What really irked her though, was he was right. It was her fault they were stuck here and nothing she could say could change that.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him undressing, unbuckling his belt, kicking off his jeans. Then he pulled his sweater off over his head. Dressed only in plain white boxer shorts and a light blue t-shirt, he took her breath away.
�Do you need something to sleep in?� He smirked.
Hermione looked down at her white blouse and tweed skirt. Actually it would be nice to have a nightgown or something, but she wasn�t about to ask him. �No I�m fine,� she snipped.
Draco laughed. �Suit yourself.�
Hermione sniffed. Now trying to get comfortable, she laid down and pulled out her shirttails. The floor was hard as a rock and she was beginning to realize she would never get any sleep. Frustrated she started to count sheep, yet she couldn�t get the image of Draco partially dressed out of her mind. Grumpily she sighed.

Hermione�s scream broke the night with shattering clarity. It raised the gooseflesh on Draco�s arms and he sat up in a cold sweat looking around. �Hermione.�
There was no answer, just a whimper.
Vaguely he could see Hermione�s bundled up form in front of the fireplace, dark orange embers glowing in the darkness behind her.
�Hermione?� he said a little louder.
Again there was no response.
Draco shook his head. He hated to hear her scream. It reminded him too much of the horrible night when his Aunt had tortured her. A memory he was still trying to forget, with little success.
Softly he stepped out of bed into the cold night air and padded over to her, bending down.
Hermione was curled up in a ball, her slender body almost shaking. Then she cried out again, her hands clenched into fists.
Gently he touched her shoulder. �Hermione,� he whispered, but still she didn�t respond, a teardrop running down her cheek. Now he was almost afraid to wake her up.
Softly he ran his finger over her jaw line, studying her face in the dim orange light. She really was quite lovely. Funny how he had never noticed that before. Yet now that he had, he couldn�t stop looking at her. It wasn�t as if she was a strikingly beautiful woman either, for she wasn�t, but that was part of charm. She was like no other woman he�d ever met and he felt strangely protective toward her.
Gently he shook her. �Wake up Hermione.�
Finally she stirred and jumped, touching his hand. �What happened?�
�You had a nightmare.� He rubbed her back.
�Oh yes.� She yawned. �I don�t remember it though.� Then her voice went shrill. �Why did you wake me up? Now I shall never get back to sleep.�
Draco groaned. The woman was downright exasperating! Here he was trying to do her a favor and now she was complaining about it. Just like earlier, back at the office. Was she always this surly?
�Sorry, � Draco snapped derisively. �But your screaming was keeping me awake.�
Hermione snorted. �Right�and we wouldn�t want you to miss your beauty rest now would we?�
Draco sat back and shook his head. �You know what�s wrong with you Granger?�
�I suppose you�re going to tell me.� Snootily, she pushed her hair over one shoulder.
Draco pointed his finger at her. �You�ve spent the last few years of your life, working in a little room with your nose buried in a Time-Turner. Yet all the while, life is passing you by. Seriously, you need to get laid.�
Hermione bristled. �Well certainly not by you!�
Draco laughed. �Did I touch a nerve?�
Hermione huffed and for a moment she looked like she might say something, but instead she sighed, her voice soft. �Look�I don�t mean to snap. I�m just tired. Do you know that I counted over two-thousand sheep before I fell asleep? This floor is uncomfortable, it�s freezing cold and I can hear things scurrying around in the hall. I�m not happy.�
Draco stood up and shook his head. �You�re one stubborn woman. I�ll give you that. All right then, grab your pillow.�
�What?�
He knew she would squawk, but he was determined to do this anyway. He picked her up, blankets and all and carried her to the bed.
Hermione shrieked and scowled, squirming in his arms. �What are you doing?�
�I�m putting you to bed.� Firmly he plopped her down on the mattress.
Hermione sat up, her eyes now the size of saucers. �But where are you going to sleep?�
�With you.� Chuckling, he laid down beside her and pushed her back down.
Panicking, she tried to sit up again. �Wait a second! �
Draco just pulled her too him and smacked her bottom hard. �Behave! I need to get some sleep and you�re keeping me awake.�
Hermione stiffened in shock and he half expected her to turn around and slap him, but she didn�t. �I can�t sleep with you!�
�Sure you can. I promise you I won�t bugger you until tomorrow. How�s that?�
�But...�
�No buts. Go to sleep.� His voice was firm, but he was very distracted. He could feel her thigh underneath the covers, the silk folds of her slip caressing the back of his hand. She was so soft and supple, he wanted to yank her skirts up and spread her legs.
Hermione brushed his hand away. �Promise me, you won�t try anything!�
Draco sighed. He couldn�t hide his disappointment. �I promise.�
Hermione took a deep breath and settled in. �Okay then, I guess I will stay.�
Draco smiled. Secretly he was delighted to have her in his bed. She smelled rather strong, like hairspray, merlot wine, and campfire. She was delightfully warm though, her slender body curling up against his belly. If only she wasn�t so prickly, he would think she was adorable. Unfortunately though, she had the personality of porcupine.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled her close, his arm around her waist. �Go to sleep Hermione.� But she was already out.
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The Lost Time