AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was my entry for the 2014 Otter & Ferret Fic Exchange Fest. The fest is long over and reveals are out, so I can post this for you here. This fanfic is multi-chaptered, but complete. I will post a chapter up every couple of days until it is finished.

Here was the prompt I worked from:

Prompt: - Draco has a new-found obsession with classic Muggle literature, Hermione catches him reading her favorite book. I like well-written fluff, angst of any variety, hurt-comfort, character studies, original descriptions. I like it best when Draco and Hermione don't get along instantly, or don't always see the good side of each other quickly. No Ron bashing, hard kinks, OOC-ness, etc. Fine with hard language, lemons, graphic depictions. No real triggers/warnings. Any rating.

To my recipient, "with_rhyme": I hope you enjoy your gift!

Thank you to the Mods for hosting this amazing fic exchange. I am so blessed to have been given the chance to write for it again & thank you for the time you put into running this fabulous event!

Please review!

DISCLAIMER: "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.

TIMELINE: Hogwarts 7th year - A/U (canon compliant up to the end of "Goblet of Fire". Alternate Universe (A/U) after that)

MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name): Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy

SECONDARY CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name): Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Cormac McLaggen, Alastor Moody, Harry Potter, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Ron Weasley

SUMMARY: One evening, Hermione Granger catches Draco Malfoy out after curfew in the library, reading the famous works of William Shakespeare. His new-found respect for Muggle literature leads to a series of bizarre interactions between them that permanently alters their fundamental understanding of each other and, in Draco's case, turns his whole belief system on its head.

RATING: R (M)

WARNINGS: random Shakespeare quotes, falling in love, Het sex (not erotica... more romance genre style), implied pregnancy & child birth.

Author's Additional Notes: Story title comes from a line in "The Taming of the Shrew".

WHERE TWO RAGING FIRES MEET

By: RZZMG

*.*.*

"Why, that is nothing: for I tell you, father,
I am as peremptory as she proud-minded;
And where two raging fires meet together
They do consume the thing that feeds their fury:
Though little fire grows great with little wind,
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all:
So I to her and so she yields to me;
For I am rough and woo not like a babe."
― William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew

*.*.*

Early October, 1997

Hermione grips her wand tighter in hand, straightens her spine, lifts her chin, and mentally prepares for the coming confrontation with some measure of eagerness.

"It's fifteen minutes to curfew, Malfoy. Shouldn't you be on your way down to the dungeons, not up the Grand Stairs?" she chastises, hoping he'll stop to argue just so she can dock him House points.

The truth is, she's been itching for a row all day, feeling irritable and out of sorts, especially after the rather heated disagreement at breakfast this morning with Seamus and several of her other Housemates over discussing in front of the younger students the war they all know is to come. Frightening impressionable eleven and twelve-year-olds with talk of Killing Curses and tortures involving the Cruciatus – what had her friends been thinking? Honestly! She'd expect horrid, lurid things to primarily come from the mouths of Slytherins, not Gryffindors!

Not that Malfoy, the king of all snakes, has been particularly offensive to her this year. In fact, he hasn't once dropped the 'M' bomb her way. Not yet, anyway. She knows it's only a matter of time, however. He's nothing if not predictable.

To her great surprise and immense irritation, Malfoy ignores her jab, passing her by without a word. He does spare her an inscrutable sideways glance, though, and strides so close she can smell his expensive cologne as he steps past and heads up the stairs, despite her warning.

Hermione's immediately suspect, of course.

She follows him through the Entrance Hall and up the stairs, keeping a discreet distance, nattering at him the whole way. "I'd hate to dock your House points," she calls, peeved by his purposeful snub. "This early in the year… one might call it a bad omen, if one believed in such nonsense. It could cost you the House cup come June, though. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if that were to happen."

He pauses at the fourth floor landing, and turns to watch her climb the stairs after him. She's a bit out of breath trying to keep up with his longer-legged, faster stride, but she does manage to keep up – and to toss him a decent glare to boot. He still says nothing, but turns to go into the fourth floor corridor, heading towards the library. Hermione hurries to catch up, curiosity egging her on.

The reference centre is somewhat busy for a Thursday night, with a dozen heads bent over parchment and page, but there are still plenty of empty desks and study nooks indicating that not everyone in the school takes their lessons as seriously as they should. It vexes Hermione to some small degree, to be honest, as she's been expecting (hoping, really) to find more of her fellow seventh years in the library this term. With N.E.W.T.s coming up in only seven months, one would think this room would be bustling with interest, but to her disappointment, only a handful have made this place their regular haunt outside of classes (including, to her great astonishment, Pansy Parkinson).

Behind the front desk, Madam Pince gives her and Malfoy the stink eye as they enter at such a late hour, and abruptly reminds them that it's nearly time to close up by calling out the ten minute warning.

Hermione nods to the Librarian before turning to follow her quarry deeper into the room. They bypass students who are hurriedly packing up their books and putting away their inkpots, heading towards the back left corner of the room.

Wherever could he be leading her?

To her wonder, Malfoy stops near the end of an aisle marked 'Muggle Literature' and reaches out to take down a book from the middle of a shelf. Instantly, Hermione recognises the red leather-bound classic. She's traced the stylish, gold-etched diamond design on the cover and the spine's calligraphy many a time herself, and she's carefully turned its ancient pages, aware all the time of the edition's true value. It's the First Folio – the true originally collected print of William Shakespeare's works (unlike the second copy at Oxford, which Muggle historians incorrectly believe to be the first print ever made of the edition)…

…and it's in Draco Malfoy's hateful, bigoted hands.

A terrible dread fills her. What if he starts ripping into it, tearing the pages and breaking the spine? What if he casts an Incendio on it, burning it to ash? What if-?

She is about to go roaring down the aisle, a Petrification spell upon her lips just in case, when Malfoy does something completely unexpected: he opens the book to a specific page, as if he'd previously memorised its number and location, and begins reading aloud:"…if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make, when all those legs and arms and heads, chopped off in a battle, shall join together at the latter day, and cry all, "We died at such a place," some swearing, some crying for a surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their children rawly left. I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle..."

Hermione pauses, recognising the passage from Henry V, her favourite of Shakespeare's historical plays.

Why would Malfoy be reading such a thing, and more importantly, does he even comprehend its meaning? Is there a hidden message here, or is this just him playing a lark upon her, one she doesn't yet comprehend? Well, she figures, there is one way to find out.

With perfect recall, she recites the remainder of the line: "…for how can they charitably dispose of anything, when blood is their argument?"

The emphasis she places on that last bit is purposeful and proud, and she thinks: There, pick up on that allusion, you git!

Mafoy's slate-grey eyes narrow and slant her way. He looks very much like a viper considering its prey for the right time to strike.

Raising her chin again, Hermione gives him no chance to land his intended bite. She finishes the paragraph: "Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it, who to disobey were against all proportion of subjection."

With a snap, her rival closes the book and puts it back on the shelf. "Are you always such a bitch?" he snarls at her.

"Are you always such a foul-mouthed git?" she counters.

"Do you like being a know-it-all swot?"

"Do you like being a bigoted, cruel bully?"

"Why don't you run along and help Weasley find his magical talent? It's about that time, isn't it?"

"Why don't you stick your head in the toilet and flush? You'd be doing the world a favour!"

He grumbles something about 'giving you fair warning', as he marches past her and out the door just as Madam Pince calls the two minute warning. This time, Hermione does not immediately follow him, taking a minute longer to wonder about tonight's odd confrontation – if that's what Malfoy meant it to be at all.

She leaves the library with no more answers than when she'd earlier stepped in. She is, however, thirty seconds behind Madam Pince out the door before it closes and locks for the evening.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Notes:

Please review!