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A Slow Seduction	By : MoonlightVision Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 56424 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of JK's world and characters. I do not make any profit from this.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!! Here's another chapter, hope you all enoy!

Chapter 9
“Would you stop being a prat and help me!” Hermione hissed under her breath, glaring at him.
Draco stopped absently twirling his wand and levelled a cool gaze in her direction, “Why? You've clearly got this under control, Granger.”
She leaned over the cauldron, crinkling her nose at the odour wafting out of it, “Because this is supposed to be a team effort and so far you've done nothing.”
He raised a brow at her, “Maybe that's because you have basically been ignoring me for the whole morning...”
“Just returning the favour, Malfoy, you ignored me for the rest of last week,” she retorted.
He shrugged, “I needed some space. But I'm glad to hear you missed me.”
Granger rolled her eyes, adding a tiny pinch of ground butterfly wings to the potion, “I didn't miss you. It was actually a relief not having your moody arse around all the time.”
Shifting in his seat he propped one elbow on the desk, placing his chin in his hand, “Hmmm, I doubt that very much. You want to know what I think, Granger?”
“No.”
“I think you did miss me, which is why you've been ignoring me so far this week. What better way to make me suffer than to give me a taste of my own medicine,” he quirked his brows at her as she gave him a scathing glance, “Am I right?”
“Not even a little bit,” she said, reaching in front of him for the flubberworm.
“Oh come on, Granger, you can admit it, no one else will hear you... You noticed I wasn't around, which means you are aware when I am around, which means you would miss me if I wasn't around.”
“Malfoy, that barely makes sense,” she huffed, angrily stirring the potion.
Passing her the next ingredient, he noted mild surprise on her face. Clearly she had been expecting him to do nothing for the entire lesson. “Who said it had to make sense? Feelings rarely do.”
“Feelings?!” she exclaimed, her voice a little too loud. Professor Slughorn glanced in their direction but didn't bother getting up from his desk. “Malfoy, the only feelings I have in regards to you are anger, distrust and sometimes loathing.”
Clapping a hand to his chest, he winced, “Ouch, Granger. You wound me.”
She scoffed, “As if I could. Here,” shoving a piece of parchment towards him she continued her stirring, “we need these from the supply closet.”
“And what makes you think I'm going to go get them?” he groused, watching her closely. Even though he knew they needed them, something about the way she said it irritated him. Did she really think she could order him about like that? He really needed to step up his game if she was getting comfortable giving him orders.
“If you don't get them, we'll both fail at making this potion. Even though I've done most of the work,” she grumbled, “I can't go get them because I can't stop stirring or it'll burn. So that leaves you.”
He peered at the colour inside the cauldron, it was a light green. It wouldn't need to have the other ingredients added until it turned bright magenta, and he knew light green was a good ten minutes of stirring, and 3 colour changes, away from magenta. He had time.
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, “What if I don't feel like going to get what we need. My grades are good enough, I can take a fail on this one potion.”
“Malfoy,” she said through gritted teeth, “I don't have time for this. Either take over stirring or go get those ingredients.”
Studying her carefully for a few seconds he saw when she was about to launch into another tirade and quickly leaned forward, making her take an involuntary step sideways. Hearing the small gasp she tried to hide, he smirked, “Say please, Granger.”
She let out a frustrated little groan, “Malfoy...”
He stood, taking a step towards her. She retreated another half step, but couldn't go any further without letting go of the stirring rod. Shifting so he was ever so slightly leaning over her left shoulder, he looked at the cauldron again. The contents were now a pale lavender, which meant it was getting closer to the time they actually did need the other things and contrary to what he'd said, he didn't want to take a fail on this.
From his position he could tell how tense she was all of a sudden. He casually shifted again, enough to let his chest press a little more against her shoulder. He hid a grin when he heard her swallow.
“Say please,” he whispered.
When she didn't respond he added quietly, “You're running out of time, Granger.”
She inhaled slowly, before replying testily, “Please.”
“Please what?”
She refused to look at him, “Will you, please, go get the ingredients we need?”
Draco waited, let her squirm internally for a few seconds, but when he saw the colour change from lavender to violet, he knew he was out of time, “Sure, Granger, since you asked so nicely.”
He walked over to the cupboard, quickly grabbed what they needed and headed back to the table. He couldn't help but notice how there was one pair of eyes that followed him the entire trip there and back. However, they weren't the eyes he'd hoped would follow him. Sitting back down and wordlessly handing the ingredients to Granger he looked over to meet the little Weasel's eyes. She was glaring at him rather ferociously, so he did what he did best. He smirked at her. Clearly at least one of Granger's friends was starting to get suspicious about how he was acting. Not that he cared. It's not like she'd ever figure out his plan. Given the way him and Granger had interacted for the past seven years, no one would ever suspect that his plan was to seduce the Gryffindor princess, of that he was sure.
Confident in himself, he winked at Weasley, laughing internally when her cheeks coloured and she looked back at her cauldron, stirring entirely too aggressively.
---**---
That evening Hermione was in the library with Ginny and Luna when she heard it again. A baby crying. This time it was very, very faint. So faint she couldn't quite be sure it was what she was hearing. Never the less, she was startled, looking around wide eyed.
“'Mione, you okay?” Ginny asked, concern lacing her features.
“I... yeah. Did you hear...” she trailed off, not sure she wanted her friends to know what she'd thought she'd heard. Sure, she' told Ginny once already, but it was obvious from their faces they hadn't heard anything and she didn't want them worrying about her. Or thinking she was crazy, a small voice in the back of her head piped up.
Glancing back to her friends, she noted they were already looking at her as if they thought she was crazy and she couldn't handle it. Standing abruptly, she gathered her things, ignoring their protests.
“I just remembered, I have to run something by Malfoy. Head stuff,” she lied, stuffing papers into her bag as she turned. Hastily she made for the doors, her friends exclamations fading into the background noise of the library.
Pushing her way through the portrait hole she stopped just inside the door, resting her hand on the wall. She listened hard, straining her ears to see if she could hear anything. Nothing. Why was she hearing a baby? It'd been days since she'd heard it, so she'd pushed it from her mind, and now she couldn't even be sure if what she'd heard tonight had been what she'd heard before.
Forcing her breathing to slow down, Hermione chided herself. She'd made it through a bloody war, hearing a baby shouldn't unnerve her this much. If she was even hearing it. Maybe it was all in her head. It had to be. No one else was hearing anything.
Someone cleared their throat loudly and she looked up to find Malfoy standing in the middle of the common room. Wearing what looked like dark blue jogging bottoms. Jogging bottoms and nothing else. Hermione felt her cheeks flush and cursed herself. Why? Why did the sight of him in a state of undress make her blush? He was nice to look at yes, but it was Malfoy, he was a git.
“What's wrong, Granger?”
Expecting him to continue and make some comment about how her blushing was proof she was obsessed with him she waited. She had to have a good comeback ready. When he didn't say anything else, however, she was confused. He didn't actually care what was wrong. Did he?
“W-what?” was all she managed to stutter out, feeling dumb.
Malfoy sighed, approaching her slowly, “You barged in here in a hurry, looking rather scared, so I'll ask again. What's wrong?”
Hermione thought fast, could she tell him about hearing the baby again? He had been with her, after all, the times when she'd heard it before. Or would he just say she was hearing things, and that it was all in her head? Or would he call her crazy again? She blinked up at him. When had he gotten so close?
“Granger?” he raised his brow and reached for her arm.
She pulled away, confused. Was he trying to comfort her? After he'd spent years bullying her? After the emotional roller coaster he'd sent her on this year? After everything? She suddenly wished Harry and Ron were here. She could tell them everything, she always had. They would have understood and actually been comforting. Her eyes started stinging and she blinked furiously, angry now. At herself for letting this get to her, at the boys for not being here, at Malfoy for... for being Malfoy.
A shocked expression crossed Malfoy's face, “Are you crying?”
“No!” she spat, making her way around him. She needed to get to her room.
She'd made it all of five steps when he caught up, grabbed her arm and forcefully spun her around to face him, “You totally are, Granger...”
“Don't you dare smirk, Malfoy, don't you dare!” her voice wobbled a little, but she was unsure if it was from anger or the tears that were threatening to spill out.
She tried to wrench her arm away from him, “I don't need this from you! Not right now! I don't need your arrogant face in my business! And I don't need your pity or your concern or whatever it is you are trying to portray right now! I don't need any of this! I don't need people looking at me like I'm crazy! I don't need this thing crying inside my head! When no one else can hear it! I don't need need it! I don't want it!”
His hand tightened on her arm as he grabbed her other arm, holding her firmly before him, “Whoa, whoa, easy there, Granger.”
“No!” she struggled harder, “Get your hands off me Malfoy!”
“Not until you calm down.”
“Let go, Malfoy, or I swear to god...”
“What?” he interrupted, his eyes darkening, “You'll hex me? With what wand, Granger? I'm guessing it's in your bag, which you dropped by the door.”
She had? Hermione quickly looked to the door. Like he said, her book bag lay abandoned by the portrait hole. “I.... I'll...”
Again he interrupted, “You'll punch me? You'd like to do that again, wouldn't you? But again, you can't. Not unless you can get your arms out of my hands.”
Hermione let out a sound of frustration, stomping her foot, “Just let go, Malfoy!”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No.”
They stood like that for several minutes, glaring at each other. Hermione ran threw scenarios in her head, things she could say to make him let her go, but judging from the look in his eyes, none of them would work. So they just stood there, neither of them saying anything for the longest time. Gradually she could feel the grip he had on her arms start to relax, and strangely her anger started to ebb away too. Until the only thoughts left in her brain were how close he was standing, how smooth his chest looked this close, and how warm his hands were.
After what felt like a lifetime he raised a single brow, “You okay now?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice to sound steady.
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?” he prodded.
She shook her head this time. Somewhere in her tirade she'd come to the conclusion that she wasn't going to tell him about what she'd heard. And she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him she had almost cried in front of him because she was feeling sorry for herself. Because she missed her boys. As much as she loved Ginny and Luna, they weren't Harry and Ron.
Suddenly aware that her feet were moving she realized Malfoy was steering her towards the couch. “Malfoy, what...” she said her voice cracking.
“Shut up, Granger,” he pushed her a bit roughly into a sitting position on the couch, “Just sit down for a minute.”
Because his hands had been on her arms, he was now crouching in front of her, but now he removed them and reached for her legs. Grabbing one ankle he made quick work of her shoe and tossed it over his shoulder.
That action snapped Hermione out of her daze and she tried to stand up, “What the hell are you doing, Malfoy?”
“Can't you just bloody sit still for a minute?” he snapped, pushing her roughly back into the couch.
“Not with you pawing at me!” she hissed.
“I'm not pawing at you, Granger, I'm removing your shoes,” he stated as he quickly removed her second shoe, despite her struggling. Having accomplished that he stood up.
She stilled. What was he going to do next? Did she want to find out? “Why?”
Finally, he did give her his trademark smirk, “Because how are you supposed to get comfy if you have them on?”
“Comfy?” she echoed, confused, “Why do I need to be comfy?” Hermione tried to stand up again, only to have him push her back one more time.
His hand lingered on her shoulder, “Would you just sit still, please?”
Hermione blinked. Had he just said please? She couldn't think of a single time he'd ever said that word to her, not in that way. As a request. She swallowed thickly and all she could do was nod.
“Finally,” he sighed. He straightened and walked away from her, went into his room and closed the door behind him.
It was mere seconds later that he reemerged, a blanket and book in hand. Walking back around the couch he offered them both to her.
Examining the book as she took them, she realized it was the newest edition of A History of Magic. The edition she had wanted so badly at the start of the year, but hadn't been able to afford. She looked up at him questioningly.
Malfoy shrugged, “It was a gift from my Mother, you can borrow it for now.” He turned to the chair and grabbed one of the pillows, tossing that to her as well.
She caught it easily, since he had tossed it remarkably gently. Which all lead her to ask a single question, “Why?”
Again he shrugged, “Seems to me you need to escape for a bit, and since you can't actually leave school... Escaping into a book seems like the next best option. I've seen how oblivious you can be to your surroundings when you're reading. It's like you're not here anymore, but somewhere else. Hence the book.”
Furrowing her brow, she looked back down at the book. An escape? That was exactly what she needed. But how had he known that? Had it been that obvious that she wanted to be anywhere but here at this particular moment?
Deciding to not over analyze it, like she did everything else, she glanced back up at him, “Thanks.”
For a second she thought he was about to smile, but then his features evened out and he shrugged. Again. He was doing a lot of the tonight, she noted.
“Sure, just as long as you're not going to cry on me. I can't stand crying,” he winced, then added brightly, “Tea?”
Completely thrown for a loop, she could barely form a response, “Umm... s-sure.”
Without a word he turned on his heels and left, leaving her completely confused and disoriented. Malfoy was going to get her tea? No, she amended with a blush... A shirtless Malfoy was going to get her tea? Because he hadn't put on a shirt before he'd walked out of the portrait hole.
Five minutes later he was back, a tray with tea and cookies floating along in front of him. He gently set it down on the coffee table and walked to his room.
Hermione stared after him. Was that it? He had literally just given her a book to escape into, a pillow and blanket to get comfy and gotten her tea? And then left?
Before she could think it through further he came back, with a book of him own. She regarded him through narrowed eyes as he set the book down on the arm chair and approached the couch. All he did though was lean over to pour himself a cup of tea. Hermione couldn't seem to help the way her eyes followed his movements as he added sugar to his cup. Every spoonful made his biceps flex subtly, which she found was rather soothing to watch.
He shot her a glance as he sat down, propping his feet up on the end of the coffee table, “What? I like my tea sweet, okay.”
She poured herself a cup of tea, adding nothing too it, “That's fine, I'm not judging.”
“You looked like you were.”
Hermione's cheeks warmed up, “Well, I wasn't.” She hoped he wouldn't notice her blush as she took a sip. That's the last thing she needed, him figuring out she had been watching his arms.
“You heard the baby again, didn't you?”
She was so startled by that comment she almost dropped her tea. How had he known? She hadn't told him! “I beg your pardon?”
Malfoy took a swig of tea and opened his book, “You mentioned hearing something inside your head. Something no one else could hear.”
She blinked, stupidly, “I-I did?”
“Jeeze, you really were upset. You seriously don't remember saying that in your little rant of things you don't need?” he cocked his head at her, eyes calculating.
She swallowed and answered honestly, “No, I don't... but... but I did. Hear it again.” She may as well tell him, since she basically already had. “I was with Ginny and Luna, in the library. It was fainter this time though. A lot fainter.”
“And they didn't hear it?”
She narrowed her eyes. Why was he being so nice about this? “No, they didn't.”
Malfoy frowned, “Hmmm, interesting.”
Hermione waited for him to continue, but he didn't. She almost asked him what was interesting, but she didn't really want to talk about it. She wanted to forget about it. Forget everything about this evening.
Malfoy had turned his attention to his book, his feet still propped on the table and his tea cup precariously balanced on the arm of the chair.
Following suit, Hermione turned to her own book. As she opened the cover the smell of new book wafted up to her and she sighed, instantly transported into her happy place.
It was some time later that she found her eyes starting to drift closed as she was reading. She peered at the clock, and noticed with shock that it was 2 in the morning! She should have gone to bed hours ago! She looked across the room at Malfoy and another shock took her. He was asleep.
He had clearly fallen asleep while reading, much like she had almost done. His book lay lightly in his lap, one hand still holding it open to the page he was on, the other resting along his thigh. His head was leaning against the back of the chair, his neck crooked at an odd angle.
Hermione sat there, lost in thought as she took in his sleeping form. Should she wake him? He looked so peaceful though. It would be a shame to have to wake him, just to tell him to go to bed.
She watched his chest rise and fall evenly as she contemplated the events of this evening. He had actually done a decent job of comforting her. She was ashamed she'd needed comforting. She should be able to handle a little stress. But she hadn't, and she'd lost it, and he hadn't made fun of her for it. He'd somehow, strangely, known exactly what she'd needed and provided her with it. Other than briefly questioning her about hearing the baby again, he hadn't even asked that many questions. Harry and Ron would have, they would have made her talk about it, even if she wasn't ready too. They would have wanted to fix it, even if they couldn't. Malfoy had just accepted it and moved on.
A wave of shame washed over her as she realized she was glad the boys hadn't been here after all, even if she did miss them terribly. She had wished they were here earlier, but now she was glad she hadn't had to talk about things right away. After having time to think about it, she had come to the conclusion that it was nothing to be worried about. If what she'd heard was the same thing as before, which she wasn't sure it was, it had been fainter. Which meant it was getting better. Nothing to worry about. Right?
Malfoy's hand twitched in his lap, sending his book crashing to the floor. Hermione was amazed that he didn't wake up. She sighed, she really did need to go to bed, but she couldn't just leave him like this.
Unfolding herself from the couch she tiptoed across to him and picked up his book, putting it on the coffee table. She grabbed his tea cup from where it still sat balanced on the arm of the chair and placed that aside too. Then she carefully covered him with the blanket he'd brought her.
About to walk away she took one last look at him and noticed again, the odd angle of his head. She winced, his neck would be so sore in the morning. She grabbed a pillow from the couch and approached again, pausing. Did she dare? What if he woke up? How could she explain what she was doing?
Squaring her shoulders she reached out with one hand and gently tilted his head to the side, stuffing the pillow against the side of the chair. Carefully she let his head rest back on the pillow and eased her hand back. He was still asleep. Satisfied with her work, she smiled, and retreated quietly to her room.
- 8
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- 10
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A Slow Seduction