Chapter 16- Dropping In
The delicate rays of the morning sun streaming through the open window in Draco’s room aroused Hermione the next morning. She stretched luxuriously, feeling thoroughly refreshed after a wonderful night’s sleep on a comfortable bed.
It took her a while to realize that the bed she was on was not her own. Instead, it belonged to Draco, who was lying beside her, still fast asleep. She turned to face Draco and she smiled at the sight that met her eyes.
He looked so peaceful and serene without the perpetual scowl or smirk on his face. His silver-blonde hair was tousled on his head, giving him a child-like innocence that Hermione had never thought possible of him.
His pale and flawless skin glistened in the sunshine and his cherry red lips formed a small pout, as though he was concentrating hard on sleeping. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest was evident even through the thick duvet that was pulled to his broad shoulders.
Hermione chuckled quietly at the boy in front of her. Maybe if he was did not have such a large (humungous would be a better word) attitude and ego, maybe if he changed a little, he would have made a good boyfriend. Maybe.
Sighing softly, Hermione snapped out of her reverie and strained to see the time on the small alarm clock on the nightstand that stood on Draco’s side of the bed. However, the clock was faced at an odd angle, so that it was impossible to see the time unless she reached across Draco to grab it.
And so she did. She used one arm to balance herself and used the other to reach across Draco to grasp the alarm clock. But her fingers barely grazed the clock when she lost her balance and fall onto Draco, on his chest to be exact.
This woke Draco up with a start and he stared at Hermione, who was sprawled across his torso. “Granger, what in Merlin’s name are you doing?” He frowned at the awkward position he found her in. “Were you trying to taking advantage of me while I slept? Couldn't resist me, could you? I knew you had fancied me all along.” The sentence ended with his trademark smirk.
“Be quiet Malfoy! I was trying to get the clock from your bedside table,” Hermione huffed as she got herself off Draco.
Draco cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, right…” he said lazily, checking the time on his alarm clock.
Throwing his blanket aside, Draco walked to the bathroom, with Hermione trailing along behind. She tried her best not to blush (Draco was still bare-chested, you see) while explaining that she was honestly only trying to get the clock from the nightstand, but it would have been easier talking to the wall than trying to get a response out of Draco.
After brushing his teeth, Draco stepped in the shower and shut the shower curtains around him.
Just as Hermione was about to sit down in front of the bathtub, Draco poked his head out of the shower curtain and gave her a cheeky smile. “I'm going to take a shower now, Granger. I know you find me irresistible, but please try to refrain from the urge to peek,” he said before disappearing behind the curtain again.
Hermione stared after him, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. Slowly, the shock evaporated and was replaced by irritation. She could not believe that a few minutes ago the thought that Draco was boyfriend-material had even crossed her mind! She forgot that a Malfoy would always be a Malfoy and this meant that the ego and attitude was going to stay. Forever.
Draco was in a considerably good mood this morning as it had turned out well so far. He had had a great slumber the night before and so far, he already mocked Hermione not once, but twice. Maybe the rest of the day would go just as well. Thoughts of Quidditch practice the previous day was slowly fading from his subconscious.
He followed Hermione into her bathroom since it was her turn to take a shower. She went through the usual routine”brushed her teeth, got into the tub, closed the curtains, made them opaque black and then sealed them to the wall at each end.
This routine of hers still highly amused Draco. Does she honestly think that I’d have the compulsion to peep at her? he thought with grunt as he settled down in front of the tub.
He heard the water run and sat waiting patiently for her. Eventually, his eyes came to settle on the Love-Knot. I think I’ll ask Granger to go to the library today and do some research, he contemplated. Of course, she’ll do the research and I’ll just sit back and relax. He smirked at his ingenuity. I’ll have to talk to the team about Quidditch practices as well. We’ll have to figure something out…
Draco was snapped out of his ponderings when he heard a voice coming from Hermione’s bedroom. He sat absolutely still and listened carefully. He grew anxious when he heard a shout, followed by a loud clanging sound. Without thinking, he stood up and jogged to the bathroom door, the Love-Knot stretching as he walked.
Before he could turn the knob, however, he was shoved back forcefully by an unseen energy. This energy was so strong that Hermione’s magic was rendered useless, therefore the seal on the shower curtain broke and Draco landed right beside her in the tub.
And there stood poor Hermione, in her black, lacey undergarments, screaming at the top of her voice at Draco’s sudden appearance. She has been doing a lot of screaming lately, hasn’t she?
Embarrassment would be an understatement. Mortification would have been only close to describe how Hermione and Draco were feeling. They were walking to the Great Hall in silence, Hermione a good distance ahead of Draco, their discomfiture rendering them speechless. Eye contact was out of the question for them. The two Heads could not even bear to look at each other.
After ‘dropping in’ to see Hermione changing her clothes, Draco had sat rooted to the tub for a good ten seconds, gawking at her stupidly. Only when Hermione had yelled again did he come to his senses. He had made a frantic leap out of the tub before Hermione quickly shut the curtains around her. No words had been exchanged even after she stepped out of the shower, picked up her bag and exited the common room.
Now, as he walked toward the Great Hall, Draco could not get the image out of his head. He could not get her image out of his head “ her wet, brown hair enveloping her stunned face, the tiny drop of water that had traced its way down from her bare neck to her ample chest, the way her arms had instinctively covered her chest and her exposed flat tummy, and the lacey, black material against her fair skin, which had still been visible through the gaps of her arms. He was getting winded just thinking about it.
Damn, who would have known that Granger would have such an amazing body under all those layers of school robes? Draco thought somewhat bitterly, trying to calm himself down. He looked at the girl who was walking ahead of him and unconsciously found himself wondering of what secrets lay underneath those black school robes. Realizing what he was thinking, he mentally slapped himself. He forced himself to look down at his shoes and not to allow his eyes wander over Hermione’s body.
Hermione, on the other hand, had willed herself not to notice that Draco was walking behind her. Each time she thought about Draco’s dramatic entrance to her bathtub, she flushed a shade of red. Then when she remembered the way he was ogling at her, the heat on her face intensified.
It was horrible! Dreadful! So, very embarrassing!
She did not know whether to be glad or angry that he had not offered an explanation for his sudden landing in her shower. It was a good thing that he hadn’t spoken to her, because she herself was too tongue-tied to talk, but he hadn’t actually clarified how and why he dropped in on her.
Sighing, she entered the Great Hall and made her way to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She spotted Harry, Ron and Ginny almost at once and she quickly took a seat with them, with Draco, unfortunately, next to her.
“Morning ‘Mione!” they said in unison as Hermione helped herself to some bacon.
“Good morning,” she replied, smiling at her friends.
“We were just talking about meat,” Ron informed her. “Different kinds of them.”
Draco snorted inwardly. Trust Ron Weasley and company to have a full-blown conversation about something as random as meat.
Hermione raised one eyebrow. “How very , erm, intellectual of you to have a discussion about meat, Ron,” she said. “But why exactly are you talking about, of all things, meat?”
“It started with Ron here claiming that bacon is the best kind of meat in the world,” Harry answered, in a tone which suggested that Hermione was not the only one who thought talking about meat was ridiculous.
“I personally think chicken’s the best type,” Ginny said casually, as though she conversed about meat every other day.
“Chicken meat is OK, I guess,” Ron said after a second of contemplation. “But I only like chicken drumstick. The thigh meat's really good.”
Ginny spread butter on her toast. “Drumstick’s all right,” she said, taking a bite into her bread. “My favorite is breast meat though.”
Draco dropped his fork down onto his plate noisily. The words ‘thigh’ and ‘breast’ were not exactly the sort of words you wanted to hear after you see your dorm-mate in the shower half-dressed. Or maybe a quarter dressed. Or a tenth? He shook his head to clear any images that were threatening to form in the corners of his mind.
“What’s wrong with you, Malfoy?” Ron asked inquisitively, upon seeing the tint of pink that had risen to Draco’s cheeks. Even Hermione was eyeing him inquiringly.
“Nothing,” he mumbled. “Just choked on something.” He picked his cup of juice and drank.
“Anyway, as I was saying,” Ginny continued, “I like the breast meat. If cooked the right way, it can be very fleshy, juicy, succulent””
This time, Draco truly did choke. He coughed and spluttered on his drink, his eyes watering from the sensation of juice in his nose, earning him stares from Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and other curious Gryffindors.
After one last coughing fit, Draco wiped his mouth on his napkin and turned to Hermione. “I think it’d be breast, I mean best if we get out of here. Now.”
The awkwardness continued for the rest of the day. Both Hermione and Draco were having a tough time concentrating on school, Draco’s reason being very much different from Hermione’s.
During Defense Against the Dark Arts, Pansy, who was seated on the other side of Draco, inched toward him as close as she could and whispered (loud enough for Hermione to hear), “I heard about Quidditch practice yesterday. I'm so sorry that she ruined it for you.” She put on a sad smile for Draco’s benefit and gave him a light peck on the cheek.
Draco heaved a deep sigh. “It’s fine, Pansy. I was talking to Blaise about it, and we decided that I could still continuing being the Captain, but I would have to observe the team from the stands,” he whispered back. “I think it’s a pretty good idea. I mean, when I used to play, I wasn’t able to analyze the team play as much since I had to concentrate on the Snitch and all…” His voice trailed off and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was disappointed.
Pansy sniffed, as if deeply moved by Draco’s love for Quidditch. Hermione could see her clutch his hand under the table. “You poor thing,” she said forlornly. Then she turned to glare at Hermione. “And it’s all because of this wretched parasite””
“Miss Parkinson, do you something to say?” Professor Thimble, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, asked tersely from his desk.
Pansy quickly released Draco’s hand. “Actaully,” she replied with a slippery smile, shooting Hermione a smug look. “I was just wondering if you could tell us something about parasites in the Wizarding World, that’s all.”
‘Numerous parts of a dragon” the hide, the heartstrings and blood in particular” are used in potion making, used to make magical products and for the cores of magic wands. Numerous parts of a dragon” the hide, the heartstrings and blood in particular” are used in potion making, used to make magical products and for the cores of magic wands. Numerous parts of a dragon” the hide, the heartstrings and blood in particular” are used in potion making, used to make magical products and for the cores of magic wands.’
Draco gritted his teeth angrily. He had been reading the same line out of his Potions textbook over and over again. He was finding it very hard to concentrate. Images of Hermione in her underwear still plagued his mind. It was pleasantly distracting, in his opinion, but at the same time very disconcerting. Imagine having sexy daydreams about your worst enemy…
Hermione too was having some trouble concentrating. She was trying to interpret runes, but she kept getting the easiest symbols mixed up. Now that the embarrassment had worn off slightly, she was more than curious to find out why Draco had landed in her bathtub this morning. She needed an answer, fast, because her brain was coming up with conclusions that seemed very unlikely.
Finally, she shut her rune dictionary, set away her homework and looked up at Draco. “I was wondering…about this morning…” She saw Draco stiffened up in his chair and realized that this was not going to be as easy as she thought. She herself felt her cheeks flare at the very mention of this morning’s incident.
“What about it?” Draco asked shiftily, as though fearful that Hermione could read the thoughts of her that were playing in mind.
“Why…how come…” She let her voice tail off as she tried to phrase her question before actually asking it. She didn’t want to come off as a blabbering idiot.
“How did you manage to break the seal off the shower curtains and come into the bathroom?” she asked finally.
Draco held his hands up in front of himself in defense. “Wait a minute, don’t make it sounds like I purposely broke the seal and came into the tub!” he exclaimed indignantly. “Honestly Granger, I'm not that desperate, you know.”
“Then what happened exactly?” she asked, brushing aside his last comment.
Draco explained to her everything (softly, so that the portraits wouldn't hear; the humiliation would be unbearable) ” how he had heard the voices from her bedroom, the clanging sound, the yell and how he had stupidly wanted to investigate, only to land himself in her bathtub because of the Love-Knot. When he was done, he saw Hermione frowning.
“So, you heard voices? And a yell?” Hermione asked for confirmation.
When Draco nodded, she said contemplatively, “But there was no one in the room when we left after my shower.”
“Maybe it was a ghost,” Draco suggested. "And quit looking at me like I'm a pervert! I'm not lying about this!"
Hermione cleared her throat. It was hard not to look at him that way. “No, can’t be. Ghosts don’t enter the students dormitory,” she said. “I don’t think they’re allowed there.” She pondered over whom it could have been, and then snapped her fingers. “Of course! How could I not have known…”
“So, who was it?” Draco asked.
Instead of answering, Hermione stood up and motioned Draco to follow her. Leading him up to her room, she threw the door open and entered. She quickly walked over to her bedside table and yanked the drawer open. From inside, she produced Jinx, her mood ring.
“It’s about time!” Jinx cried furiously as Hermione stared down at her. “Do you know how long I've been in there?!”
“I'm sorry, Jinx,” Hermione said to her ring, smiling down apologetically. “Did you make some noise earlier this morning?”
“Well, since I have been cooped up in a dark drawer since Merlin knows when, I don’t have a clue whether it was morning or not,” Jinx said accusingly. “But if you mean a few hours ago, I guess that would have been me then.”
“A mood ring? Yelling so loudly? Making that much of noise?” Draco asked, standing beside Hermione and examining Jinx tentatively. “You sure about that, Granger?”
“Hey, you try being imprisoned in a small dark room for days and days, and you’ll know how I feel!” Jinx scolded. “Ever since I've been locked up, I've been trying to get some attention. Any attention at all. I have bouncing up and down to create some noise, like I did this morning, so that Hermione here would remember that she actually owned a mood ring!”
“That explains the clanging sounds,” Hermione said conclusively.
“Mood rings can bounce?” Draco asked, feeling increasingly doubtful by the second.
“Mood rings do have some magic of their own, you know,” Hermione informed him. “Not much, but a sufficient amount for their small size. I've read about it in The Encyclopedia Of Enchanted Objects.”
“Not very smart, are you?” Jinx sneered at Draco.
“I'm not even going to waste my time arguing with a mood ring,” Draco said, cocking one blonde eyebrow.
“Hey, are you belittling me?” Jinx asked threateningly. If mood rings had hands, Jinx would probably be brandishing her fists at Draco this very moment. Maybe even beating him up.
Hermione cut in before Draco had time to answer. “Jinx, there’s a reason why I haven’t heard you creating all that racket.”
“Really now?” Jinx said, scrutinizing Hermione carefully. “It better be a darn good reason.”
Hermione told Jinx about the Love-Knot and everything it had done to her and Draco. She explained that they had hardly been to their own rooms, except when taking a shower.
“So, that’s why I couldn't hear you,” Hermione said with a sigh. “Every time you made noise, I probably wasn’t in the room. Until yesterday, when Malfoy heard you.”
To Hermione’s surprise, Jinx laughed. “I pity you, Hermione,” the mood ring said. “Love-Knots are tricky buggers. It’s not going to be easy to get it off.”
“Thanks for your encouragement,” Draco said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.
“This bloke’s really starting to annoy me,” Jinx said irritably. “Is he like this all the time?”
“Pretty much,” Hermione said with a shrug.
“Well, I'm going to conveniently ignore him for now,” Jinx said, piqued. “Now, put me on, Hermione. I haven’t had anything to do in a very long time. I'm surprised I'm not getting rusty.”
“But Jinx I”” Hermione was cut short but the murderous look the mood ring was giving her. “Oh, all right.” She placed the mood ring on her finger and watched carefully as it changed from black into a dim grayish-burgundy color.
“Hmmm…you're definitely exhausted,” Jinx said knowledgably. “And I can also sense some embarrassment. What are you so embarrassed about, Hermione?”
Hermione cleared her throat and felt her cheeks grow hot. She exchanged uncomfortable glances with Draco, feeling tongue-tied. “It’s nothing,” she managed to tell her mood ring, though Jinx did not seem thoroughly convinced.
“If you say so,” Jinx huffed. “Now, why don’t you put me on, blondie,” she said, referring to Draco.
“I’d rather not,” Draco said with a hint of arrogance. “I don’t think mood rings are highly accurate.”
Jinx glowered at him. “If you're scared of what I’ll find out, just say so,” she challenged.
At once, Draco snatched the mood ring from Hermione’s finger and placed it on his own. It was true that he did not want Jinx to think of him as a coward, but it was also true that despite his riches, he had never owned a mood ring before. And the thought of trying it on was quite fascinating.
Hermione’s mood ring turned a deep scarlet on Draco’s finger. “Oh, this is very interesting,” Jinx chuckled.
“What so interesting?” Draco asked, staring at Jinx.
“Someone’s feeling very naughty,” Jinx replied in a whisper only audible to Draco.
Draco practically flung Jinx off his finger and chucked it onto Hermione’s open hand.
“What did Jinx say?” Hermione asked, not catching the mood ring’s quiet revelation.
A faint pink rose up to Draco’s pale cheeks. He cleared his throat and tried to calm himself down. “I didn’t hear what she said,” he lied. Of course, he had clearly heard what Jinx said and he knew jolly well what she meant.
Hermione looked down at the mood ring in her hand. “Jinx, what did you say to Malfoy?” she questioned, growing increasingly curious.
“All I said was that he was tired and should get some sleep,” Jinx responded, covering up for Draco. She didn’t think Hermione would be too thrilled to find out that Draco was feeling naughty.
Hermione frowned. “That’s all? Just tired?” she asked, still doubtful.
“Yes, that’s all,” Draco said hastily. He walked over to Hermione’s bed and threw off the covers. “So, I think we should just go to sleep now.”
“Hold your horses!” Jinx barked from Hermione’s hand. “The two of you sleep in the same bed?”
When Hermione nodded, the mood ring burst into uncontrollable mirth. It’s no wonder the Malfoy kid’s feeling so naughty! Jinx thought in wonder.
Hermione stared at her mood ring, thinking that being put away in the drawer for such a long time might have affected her sanity somehow. “Are you quite all right, Jinx?”
“I'm dandy, Hermione,” Jinx replied between laughs. “But I think I need some sleep as well. Why don’t you put me back into the drawer? I'm sure you need some rest too. But, I'm warning you, don’t forget about me!”
“I won’t. Good night then,” Hermione said uncertainly, placing Jinx back into the drawer. And to think just moments ago she was going on and on about how she had been ‘imprisoned’ in the drawer for ages.
“You have one weird mood ring,” Draco commented. “Feisty too, I might add.” He was about to take off his shirt and tuck himself into Hermione’s bed when she stopped him.
“Wait,” she said, holding up her hand. “I want to change into my pajamas first. It’s been ages since I've slept comfortably on my own bed.”
Draco scowled as Hermione started to search through her wardrobe. Finally, she fished out a baby blue cotton nightshirt with matching cotton trousers. She was about to make her way to the bathroom when Draco stopped her. He pulled her back towards her clothes cupboard and began rummaging through it himself.
“Malfoy!” Hermione squealed. “What do you think you're doing, going through my cupboard like that?! Do you have no shame?!”
Malfoy did not answer. He continued poking around her clothes until he at last found what he was looking for. He emerged from inside the depths of her wardrobe holding a nightdress that was all but too familiar to Hermione” the cotton, white one with large dancing sheep, big red hearts and large pink pompoms for buttons.
“What in the world…? Malfoy…what…?” Hermione stammered.
“Wear this one,” he said, throwing it at her. “You look very sexy in it.” With that, he trotted over to Hermione’s bed. Calmly taking off his shirt, he slipped under the covers and closed his eyes, leaving Hermione to gape after him, wide-eyed, open-mouthed and undergoing a myriad of emotion.
Author's Note: Hey peeps! OK, I just want to address an issue that a number of you brought up: the romance between Draco and Hermione in my fic.
Well, I have to be honet with you. I can't speed it out because I've planned this story to go a certain way and if I do anything to change that, it may screw the story up. All I can do is assure you that there will be romance. Believe me! Otherwise, I wouldn't write the fic. =D So be patient, OK? Thank you!
Oh yes, and another thing. The Love-Knot can only stretch for three and a half feet. Anything beyond that will cause the person who causes the stretch to land right beside his or her partner. Hope you liked this chapter!