LunaLlama9

Clever Title Here

Professor Snape watched the Gryffindor girl and Slytherin boy bickering. Tired though he was of the constant fighting that went on under his hooked nose, he couldn't help but be reminded of his own relationship with a girl in his youth. His relationship with Lily Evans had been rocky at best.

While Lily Evans and Hermione Granger looked nothing alike, both were intensely passionate and the smartest witches of their age. They absorbed knowledge like sponges and both were skilled practitioners that could perform the spells and charms they had studied on a level well beyond their years. Draco was not like Snape, perhaps, but close enough. He was fascinated by the Dark Arts but had no idea what he was getting himself into. Draco and Snape had joined Lord Voldemort for very different reasons. Neither fully understood the brutality that lay ahead of them.

Draco still had time to see the error of his ways. He could avoid creating the damage Snape had at the same age. Besides, if he really, truly hated the Granger girl, Snape thought, Draco would not deign to even recognize her presence. In fact, he was fascinated by her. Fascinated, irritated and enthralled by a girl whom his parents claimed to be lower than the dirt on their house-elf's feet, yet still the most intelligent and clever person he had ever met.

"Why don't you go help Longbottom, Granger? He always seems to melt down without you whispering the instructions in his ears. That, or he melts his cauldron," Draco sneered as Hermione passed him with enough ingredients in her arms for her and Neville.

"Oh, you mean like you do with Crabbe and Goyle, to keep them from making your entire house look like the idiots they are, Malfoy?"

Draco sneered as Hermione walked off and dumped the ingredients on the desk she shared with Neville. He couldn't help watching her hips sway as she walked. He also couldn't help looking at her bottom as she bent over the desk to catch a flask about to roll into her chair on the other side. Draco couldn't deny she was attractive, even if she was a Mudblood. If only she would do something about that bushy mane she called hair.

Unfortunately, he found his eyes following Hermione more and more these days. Professor Snape had also noticed Draco's lingering eyes. When Draco finally turned to face the front, Snape smirked. Draco saw that Snape had seen him looking at Hermione and his pale skin turned a light shade of pink.

The rest of the class passed uneventfully. Neville had managed to make a perfect Truth Potion with Hermione's help. It was a particularly hard potion to make as it had to be stirred just the right number of times in one direction, then in the other direction. These directions always confused Neville, who sometimes got his left and right mixed up, especially under the judging glare of Professor Snape. This Truth Potion was not, however, quite as strong as Veritaserum.

Each student filled a phial with their Babbling Beverage and labeled it with their name, date and partner. As the students filed towards Professor Snape's desk, he had an idea. It may not work but he would try. Hermione and Draco arrived at his desk simultaneously. Their hands brushed as they tried to cram the potions on the desk without knocking any over.

Hermione gasped softly and withdrew her hand quickly while Draco steadied the bottles quickly. He kept his head down, allowing Hermione to think him angry. Actually, Draco was quite hurt by her involuntary action, though he knew he had no reason to be. He had never been anything but cruel to her. It was the only way he knew to get her attention.

As they turned to gather their things, Snape barked "Granger, Malfoy. You two stay. We will test your potions. And then you will clean up the dungeon. Together. Without magic."

"What? Why? That's house-elf work!" Draco looked confused. His stomach growled and he whined, "But Professor, it's almost dinner time!"

Hermione said nothing, though her stomach also rumbled.

"I will leave you a snack. Will that suffice, Mr. Malfoy? Is there anything else I can get you?" Snape growled. Better to let them think he was still angry.

"No, sir," he said quickly, looking sideways at the plate of bread and cheese and mugs of pumpkin juice that had appeared on the already dangerously full desk.

"Professor?" Hermione asked tentatively, a little afraid of what Snape had in mind.

"Let's try your potions out shall we?" He grabbed Hermione's and Draco's potions and put a few drops in the mugs. "I will accept this in lieu of a week of detention each." He smirked as he handed the juice to the dumbstruck students in front of him.

"Drink. Now."

"But Professor! The potion-" Hermione cried, but he cut her off with a dangerous look, knowing she might explain the full effects of the potion if he gave her a chance.

"Now!"

Giving each other frightened looks, they downed their drinks. Hermione drank the juice with Malfoy's potion and he drank the juice with hers. Almost immediately they started voicing their displeasure with the situation, unable to stop themselves. Snape just gave a nasty smile and walked out, locking the door.

They did not need to know that this particular truth serum did more than just force the drinker to voice all their thoughts in honesty, though he strongly suspected Hermione knew. She was nothing if not thorough. The potion would force them to react to the situation honestly. If they wanted to fight, they would fight. If they wanted to work things out, then they would work them out.

Hermione ran to the door and tugged furiously, knowing full well it would not open. She looked down at her hands, wondering why she was doing this even though her mind knew there was no point.

"Why did you even bother? I thought you were smarter than that, little miss know-it-all," Draco said, not realizing he had spoken out loud until Hermione answered him.

"Because of the potion, you stupid ferret! It isn't just a mild Truth Potion! It makes you say what you really want to and do what you really want to, as well!"

Hermione looked exasperated, both at herself and at Draco. He had managed to make a perfect potion without fully understanding what the outcome would be.

"How can you be so smart, but so dumb?" She thought aloud.

"Because I couldn't concentrate! Maybe if you hadn't walked by …looking like you do—"

"No! This isn't my fault!" she cried.

"Wait. Why are you even looking at me? I'm just a dirty Mudblood," she whispered almost sadly.

"You aren't dirty. You're the most pure, good thing I know," Draco said before he could stop himself.

"You're lying," Hermione said, unable to stop herself and knowing full well he wasn't. She tilted her head and looked at Draco, as if trying to read him like so many of her books. Draco turned pink at the intensity of her stare and shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll start cleaning. You can eat first, and then I'll switch with you," he said, hoping to break the awkward silence.

After they had both eaten, they got down to scrubbing. Both were focusing hard on the task at hand. They hoped that with enough concentration, they would keep from revealing any more to each other before the effects of the potion wore off. Unfortunately, neither knew how long that would be.

Bang! Hermione knocked over the water pail, soaking herself in the process. "Oh no! Now I'll be here for ages!"

Draco gaped at her. While the majority of the water had soaked her skirt and socks, enough had splashed onto her shirt to give him an eye-full of Hermione's undershirt. "Of course she would wear a shirt under a shirt. I couldn't be that lucky," he said, not realizing he had said this out loud and not in his mind. Hermione gasped and glared at him, turning around quickly to cast a drying spell on herself.

As she turned around, still on her knees, Draco managed to snake his arms around her waist and dragged her up, pulling her into a tight hug. She stiffened against his body and gasped. He forced her around and pushed her to the wall, his hands on her wrists.

"Malfoy…I don't know if this is a good idea," she breathed. She sounded like she had said the words only because she felt they were necessary, not that she was really convinced by her own words.

"It is a good idea. It's a good idea that I've had for a long, long time," he said huskily. His grey eyes flashed and he pressed his lithe body against hers. Hermione could feel how taught and strong he was, even under their billowing school robes. He growled and bent his head, nuzzling her neck. Draco sighed in pleasure. "Finally."

Hermione craned her neck to allow him more access, but otherwise submitted completely to him. The feel of his mouth lightly brushing her neck made her shiver. Draco felt her shudder against him and pulled back to look in her eyes again.

"Snape is a genius," he breathed, and before Hermione could ask what he meant, he kissed her hard, almost smashing their teeth together. He kissed her with a ferocity he did not know he possessed. His tongue snaked out to part her lips. Hermione let him in with a soft groan. They kissed as if their lives depended on it, his hands still holding her wrists to the wall, though it was no longer necessary.

She groaned again and pulled her hands out of his, only to wrap her arms around his neck to bring him closer to her. His hands wandered down her sides to grip her hips, pulling them to his. He ground into her with a growl, making sure she knew what she did to him.

"Call me Draco," he said roughly, his lips still on hers. "Hermione…call me Draco…"

"Draco…please," she gasped, finally understanding this was not all hormones, but the potion bringing out their true feelings. "Do you…do you really like me?" She was almost crying while she was enjoying his attentions. She was fighting the potion and it was hard.

"Hermione, I love you. God, I love you," he groaned, breathing hard against her, losing control quickly. Hermione's potion was clearly much more expertly brewed, even with Neville's help.

She gasped and lost all of the control she had been fighting the potion for. "Really?" she squeaked, as he nipped at he neck again, running his hands under her shirt to touch her stomach. "I can't believe…I think love you, too?"

He kissed her roughly again and pulled her legs around him, never breaking his kiss. His tongue ran over her teeth, which he noticed were smaller than when she had started Hogwarts. He nibbled her lower lip and held her up, pressed against the wall, long legs wrapped around him.

Draco pulled back from the wall, still carrying Hermione. She clutched him tightly as he laid her on one of the clean desks. He leaned over Hermione, continuing his kisses that were gentler now. His hands slid down her body to the hem of her skirt. He slid them up her thighs, lingering at her mound. Hermione gasped. This was all entirely new to her though she was almost certain he had done these things to Pansy many times.

He slid her panties down and stroked her with a long, cool finger. Hermione let out a small moan, feeling the coolness against her burning core. He continued stroking her gently until he felt it safe to slide a finger inside. Immediately he felt her walls clench around his finger. He felt himself harden more, if that was even possible.

He slid his finger in and out of Hermione, never letting up on his kisses. Hermione wrapped her legs around him, to try and pull him deeper, but his hand would not suffice. He smiled and breathed, "Hermione…Can I?"

She nodded, already out of breath, and watched as he undid his pants. He had on silver striped boxers and she could see him straining against them. She sat up and tugged at his waistband, reaching to kiss him again. He pulled them down and his length sprung to attention. Hermione had never seen a man naked, let alone fully engorged. She breathed in, very scared.

Draco pulled her into a hug and positioned himself at her entrance. "This will hurt, okay?"

Once he made sure Hermione was certain, he thrust hard once and she stiffened, letting out a cry of pain. "Go on…please…" she said after a few moments. He started thrusting in and out of Hermione, her legs wrapped around his slight waist to pull him deeper. They found a rhythm and she started to move her hips in time with his. A pressure was building up in them both that they had never experienced. Draco kept pounding into her, holding on as long as possible.

Hermione grasped his back tightly, her eyes wide. "Draco!" she cried, her body arching into his as they finally grunted their release together. For a while, he held her there, still connected, nuzzling her neck again, just as they had started. He looked deep into her eyes and with all the sincerity and honesty he could muster, told her "I am sorry for everything. I love you and was afraid of you."

Hermione just smiled into his shoulder, knowing that the potions had worn off long ago. "I love you, too," she whispered.

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